Patterned ground

<p>Patterned ground is the distinct and often symmetrical <a href="/facts/Patterns_in_nature/handzeJh">natural pattern</a> of geometric shapes formed by the deformation of ground material in <a href="/facts/Periglacial/sWDGDrCw">periglacial</a> regions. It is typically found in remote regions of the <a href="/facts/Arctic/bxbuUz7Q">Arctic</a>, <a href="/facts/Antarctica/bEM5Lem5">Antarctica</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Outback/coL8oBwS">Outback</a> in <a href="/facts/Australia/qLHpbppq">Australia</a>, but is also found anywhere that <a href="/facts/Freezing/0kNr25SF">freezing</a> and <a href="/facts/Thawing/zhhDBo5V">thawing</a> of <a href="/facts/Soil/5Ddpr3QM">soil</a> alternate; patterned ground has also been observed in the hyper-arid <a href="/facts/Atacama_Desert/RmLNNvvg">Atacama Desert</a> and on <a href="/facts/Mars/AQGtVvz0">Mars</a>. The geometric shapes and patterns associated with patterned ground are often mistaken as artistic human creations. The mechanism of the formation of patterned ground had long puzzled scientists but the introduction of computer-generated geological models in the past 20 years has allowed scientists to relate it to <a href="/facts/Frost_heaving/cv72cD7q">frost heaving</a>, the expansion that occurs when wet, <a href="/facts/Fine-grained/kBqMRzaj">fine-grained</a>, and <a href="/facts/Porous/UoyAJU8X">porous</a> soils freeze.
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Patterned ground open-in-new

Patterned ground