Discover Patterned Ground
Patterned Ground Technical Terms
Patterned Ground: A general term for any ground surface exhibiting a discernibly ordered, more-or-less symmetrical, morphological pattern of ground and, where present, vegetation. Patterned ground is characteristic of, but not confined to, permafrost regions or areas subjected to intense frost action; it also occurs in tropical, subtropical, and temperate areas. Patterned ground is classified by type of pattern and presence or absence of sorting and includes nonsorted and sorted circles, net, polygons, steps and stripes, garlands, and solifluction features. In permafrost regions, the most common macroform is the ice-wedge polygon and a common microform is the nonsorted circle. Stone polygons generally form on slopes of less than 8 percent, while garlands and stripes occur on slopes of 8 to 15 percent and more than 15 percent, respectively. NRC and HP