Syngenetic permafrost growth is a mode of the growth of

permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface ...

whereby additional material is deposited to a permafrost site during freezing conditions, causing the permafrost layer to build upwards. It is cited as an efficient mode of permafrost growth, compared with heterogenetic permafrost growth, which occurs when freezing temperatures penetrate into previously unfrozen ground of uniform composition. Lunardini gives the basic formulas for permafrost generation under both modes. Syngenetic deposition of frozen materials comes from any of a variety of sources, sediment from streams and rivers, material fallen from hillsides, material blown by the wind, and material deposited at the bottom of lakes. Studies of such formations are partly based on observations in the

Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory The Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) is a United States Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center research facility headquartered in Hanover, New Hampshire, that provides scientific and engineering ...

tunnel into permafrost near

Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...

. Ice wedges that intrude into cracks in permafrost may be regarded as syngenetic, if they grow upwards.

References

External links

Permafrostwatch
University of Alaska Fairbanks
International Permafrost Association (IPA)Center for PermafrostPermafrost – what is it? – YouTube
(Alfred Wegener Institute) Geography of the Arctic Geomorphology Montane ecology Patterned grounds Pedology Permafrost Sedimentology {{Glaciology-stub