PINGO? THEY KNOW IT'S A HOLE BUT WHAT IS IT? (1108 hits)
YOUR WORLD SCIENCE NEWS DAY 17 JULY 2014 Siberia
WHAT IS IT?
That's exactly what scientists and geologists want to find out when observing a helicopter's view in recording a huge round hole in the middle of the ground on a gas site in the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia. The huge size crater was measured as 262 feet in diameter, which about 80 meters wide. Since the project is a new find more data has to be collected to determine the cause of the mysterious crater. The crater can be also be seen releasing a light white vapor from its center. For now they know it's a hole, but what is it is what they want to find out. The discovery isn't being called a sinkhole because it's appearance is not exactly the same. One scientist is calling the phenomenon "Pingo" which he explains a rare occurrence when a block of ice is grown in a small hill in the frozen artic ground.
PINGO! well those Bingo pegs are round. MAYBE IT'S AN ESCAPES. . . . WE WATCH
A pingo, also called a hydrolaccolith, is a mound of earth-covered ice found in the Arctic and subarctic that can reach up to 70 metres (230 ft) in height and up to 600 m (2,000 ft) in diameter. The term originated as the Inuvialuktun word for a small hill. A pingo is a periglacial landform, which is defined as a nonglacial landform or process linked to colder climates.
Rounded tops are common for smaller pingos, but larger ones often have breaks in the ice at the top. These larger pingos can have craters that have cones resembling those from volcanoes. This is due to the ice breaking and from melting of the inner ice core...
Periglacial suggests an environment located on the margin of past glaciers. However, freeze and thaw cycles influence landscapes outside areas of past glaciation. Therefore, periglacial environments are anywhere freezing and thawing modify the landscape in a significant manner. They are essentially formed by ground ice which develops during the winter months as temperatures fall. The plural form is "pingos".
