Problems of ice-wedge structures and frost-fissure polygons
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26485/BP/1966/15/20Keywords:
fossil ice wegdes, thermal karst, palaeoclimatic conditioingAbstract
Significant advances in permafrost studies provide the opportunity to incorporate new concepts into the interpretation of fossil periglacial phenomena.
The term ice wedge should be reserved exclusively for fragments of polygonal crack systems resulting from frost action. Fossil ice wedges may have formed through the casting of the void left after the melting of ice, or they may represent fragments of frost-induced polygons with a primary mineral infill.
Based on contraction theory, it has been possible to explain polygonal crack systems and the causes behind the repeated development of cracks in the same locations.
The neglect of the issue of thermal karst represents a major gap in Pleistocene research. The concept of thermal karst should be applied to phenomena associated with the formation of fossil frost cracks.
A range of degradation pathways of ice-wedge polygons has been observed, of which only a few result in casting of the cracks by mineral or organic material. This casting, in turn, marks the beginning of the formation of fossil frost wedges.
The primary task in interpreting fossil ice wedges is to eliminate structures that have no relation to the periglacial environment. Horizontal plan analysis plays a crucial role in this context. Examination of lateral contacts and the structure of the infill provides important criteria for distinguishing between wedges formed from ice-wedge polygons and those with a primary mineral infill resulting from frost cracking.
These two categories of fossil polygons provide evidence of a harsh, continental climate. In the case of secondary infilling, they point to the presence of permafrost, while in the case of primary mineral infill, they indicate a presumed permafrost presence.
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