Relict sorted patterned ground in Lesotho

• Published in: Permafrost and Periglacial Processes
• Main Author: Sumner, Paul
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2004
• Subjects: permafrost; Permafrost and Periglacial Processes
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ppp.459; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fppp.459; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ppp.459

Abstract Relict sorted patterned ground is described from an upland interfluve on the Lesotho‐South Africa border at an elevation of 3280 m a.s.l. The site comprises 2–4° slope angles. Frost penetration through the regolith is inferred to have been to 1 m depth during pattern formation. Sorting is thought to have resulted from deep seasonal freezing during the depressed temperatures of the Late‐Pleistocene Last Glacial Maximum (∼18 000 years B.P.). No direct evidence for permafrost is documented. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.