Name
The Diverse Morphology and Structure of North American Pingos Reveals Complex Ice Growth and Loss
Date & Time
Wednesday, May 27, 2026, 3:15 PM - 3:30 PM
Description
Pingos are distinct ice-rich hills found in permafrost regions that serve as critical indicators of ground ice conditions and possess morphological analogs on planetary bodies like Mars and Ceres. Despite their scientific significance, the relationship between pingo surface morphology and internal cryostratigraphy remains poorly constrained, often relying on classical models of monolithic ice cores. This study provides novel geophysical constraints on pingo structure by analyzing four pingos near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and nine within Pingo Canadian Landmark near Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories. We integrated high-resolution digital elevation models with ground penetrating radar and capacitively-coupled electrical resistivity surveys to resolve subsurface architecture. Our results challenge the idealized hydrostatic model. Of the thirteen investigated sites, only two, including the massive Ibyuk pingo, displayed characteristics supporting a large, monolithic ice core. Instead, we observed significant structural diversity; many morphologically "mature" pingos exhibited scattered lenticular ice bodies and complex layering rather than discrete central cores. Our observations indicate that growth likely initiates through ice segregation then transitions to mixed-mode ice growth accomplished through both segregation and intrusive processes as the overburden undergoes brittle failure. We identified a positive correlation between morphological maturity and cryostratigraphic complexity, yet topographic prominence and diameter proved to be poor predictors of internal structure. Furthermore, pingo morphologies and internal structures support a thin elastic plate model of surface deformation, where intrusive ice is emplaced along slope-parallel failure surfaces. These findings suggest monolithic cores are rare endmembers, and a distributed segregation-injection framework better explains pingo evolution on Earth and analogous planetary environments.
Location Name
McInnes Room
Full Address
Dalhousie University
Halifax NS
Canada
Session Type
Oral Presentation
Abstract ID
302
Speaker Organization
University of New Brunsswick
Session Name
H2 (2 of 3)
Co-authors
Britney E. Schmidt, Cornell University; Matthew R. Siegfried, Colorado School of Mines; John H. Bradford, Colorado School of Mines; Hanna G. Sizemore, Planetary Science Institute; Andrei Swidinsky, University of Toronto; Alexia R. Kubas, Cornell University; Austin A. Routt, University of Alaska Fairbanks; Andrew D. Mullen, Cornell University; Roger J. Michaelides, Washington University in St. Louis; Benjamin H. Hills, Colorado School of Mines; Venezia R. Follingstad, University of Oregon; Enrica Quartini, Cornell University; Daniel J. Lein, Cornell University; Kyubo Noh, University of Toronto; Richard Cockney, Tuktoyaktuk Hunters and Trappers Committee; Chuck Gruben, Tuktoyaktuk Hunters and Trappers Committee
Presenting Author
Kynan Hughson, University of New Brunswick