The Pingos of Prince Patrick Island (76 degrees N - 120 degrees W)

More than 150 pingos have been observed on Prince Patrick Island. The majority of these domes of injected ice may be divided into two distinct groups: The first group is made up of more than 100 pingos located on the surface of the island's summit at an altitude of about 100 metres. They are al...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Pissart, Albert
Format: Report
Language:English
Published: National Research Council Canada 1970
Subjects:
Ice
Online Access:https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/250474
https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/250474/1/The%20Pingos%20of%20Prince%20Patrick%20Island.pdf
https://doi.org/10.4224/20375776
Description
Summary:More than 150 pingos have been observed on Prince Patrick Island. The majority of these domes of injected ice may be divided into two distinct groups: The first group is made up of more than 100 pingos located on the surface of the island's summit at an altitude of about 100 metres. They are aligned in two parallel rows of domes, circular in ground plan, whose height and diameter do not exceed 13 metres and 250 metres respectively. Presenting no positive trace of present day evolution and showing no relationship with the topography, these forms exist in the valleys as well as on the summits. They are possibly related to some deep geological structure. The second group of pingos is made up of mounds at an altitude close to sea level and situated at the head of two bays more than 90 km distant from each other. In this group particularly are elongated pingos resembling eskers as well as those with the characteristic circular shape. Observed cuts have shown the arrangement of layers in the sides of the pingos as well as the core of injected ice. They appear to have developed following a definite change of sea level which drowned the bay and resulted in the melting of the upper permafrost. The later re-establishment of the permafrost may have begun with the appearance of this injected ice.