Definition
Fine-grained material accumulated in circle or small circular buttes.
Category
A type of nonsorted patterned ground.
Synonyms
Frost boil; Mud boil (Shilts 1978); Mud circle
Description
Circular features in periglacial zones on Earth (French 1996) with areas of heaves and troughs (Fig. 1). Their interior is characteristically vegetation-free or partially vegetated; however, they are usually surrounded by dense vegetation (Daanen et al. 2008; Raynolds et al. 2008) (e.g., tussocks, lichens, peat). Sometimes they display regular involution (festooning) (Allaby 2008).
Meter large nonsorted circles within 10 m large high-centered ice-wedge polygons on Howe Island, in the mouth of the Sagavanirktok River, northern Alaska (Photo by Donald A. Walker)
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References
Allaby M (2008) A dictionary of earth sciences, 3rd edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Daanen RP, Misra D, Epstein H, Walker D, Romanovsky V (2008) Simulating nonsorted circle development in arctic tundra ecosystems. J Geophys Res 113:G03S06. doi:10.1029/2008JG000682
French HM (1996) The periglacial environment, 2nd edn. Addison-Wesley-Longman, Reading
Harris SA, French HM, Heginbottom JA, Johnston GH, Ladanyi B, Sego DC, van Everdingen RO (eds) (1988) Glossary of permafrost and related ground-ice terms. Permafrost Subcommittee, National Research Council of Canada, Technical memorandum no 142
Mangold N (2005) High latitude patterned grounds on Mars: classification, distribution and climatic control. Icarus 174:336–359
Nicolsky DJ, Romanovsky VE, Tipenko GS, Walker DA (2008) Modeling biogeophysical interactions in nonsorted circles in the Low Arctic. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 113:1
Peterson RA, Krantz WB (2008) Differential frost heave model for patterned ground formation: corroboration with observations along a North American arctic transect. J Geophys Res 113:G03S04. doi:10.1029/2007JG000559
Raynolds MK, Walker DA, Munger CA, Vonlanthen CM, Kade AN (2008) A map analysis of patterned ground along a North American Arctic Transect. J Geophys Res 113:G03S03. doi:10.1029/2007JG000512
Shilts WW (1978) Nature and genesis of mudboils, central Keewatin, Canada. Can J Earth Sci 15(7):1053–1068
Swanson DK, Ping C-L, Michaelson GJ (1999) Diapirism in soils due to thaw of ice-rich material near the permafrost table. Permafr Periglac Proc 10(4):349–367. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-1530(199910/12)
van Everdingen RO (1998) Multi-language glossary of permafrost and related ground-ice terms, Revised edition, 2005. International Permafrost Association, Calgary
Vliet-Lanoe BV (1991) Differential frost heave, load casting and convection: converging mechanisms; a discussion of the origin of cryoturbations. Permafr Periglac Proc 2:123–139
Walker DA, Epstein HE, Romanovsky VE, Ping CL et al (2008) Arctic patterned-ground ecosystems: a synthesis of field studies and models along a North American Arctic Transect. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 113:G03S01. doi:10.1029/2007JG000504
Washburn AL (1956) Classification of patterned ground and review of suggested origins. Geol Soc Am Bull 67(7):823–865
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Mangold, N. (2014). Nonsorted Circle. In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_509-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_509-1
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