Formation of Low-Centered Ice-Wedge Polygons and Their Orthogonal Systems: A Review

作者：Y. Shur, Benjamin Jones, M. Torre Jorgenson, Mikhail Kanevskiy, Anna Liljedahl, Donald A. Walker, Melissa Ward Jones, Daniel Fortier, Alexander Vasiliev · 发表于：Geosciences · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.3390/geosciences15070249 · 被引用次数：6 · 研究领域：Climate change and permafrost、Cryospheric studies and observations、Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamics

Ice wedges, which are ubiquitous in permafrost areas, play a significant role in the evolution of permafrost landscapes, influencing the topography and hydrology of these regions. In this paper, we combine a detailed multi-generational, interdisciplinary, and international literature review along with our own field experiences to explore the development of low-centered ice-wedge polygons and their orthogonal networks. Low-centered polygons, a type of ice-wedge polygonal ground characterized by elevated rims and lowered wet central basins, are critical indicators of permafrost conditions. The formation of these features has been subject to numerous inconsistencies and debates since their initial description in the 1800s. The development of elevated rims is attributed to different processes, such as soil bulging due to ice-wedge growth, differential frost heave, and the accumulation of vegetation and peat. The transition of low-centered polygons to flat-centered, driven by processes like peat accumulation, aggradational ice formation, and frost heave in polygon centers, has been generally overlooked. Low-centered polygons occur in deltas, on floodplains, and in drained-lake basins. There, they are often arranged in orthogonal networks that comprise a complex system. The prevailing explanation of their formation does not match with several field studies that practically remain unnoticed or ignored. By analyzing controversial subjects, such as the degradational or aggradational n...