Ocean “Pingos”

Geologist Charles Paull (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) investigates geologic features similar to pingos on the Arctic Ocean floor where methane bubbles through sediments and forms hundreds of low hills. On land, a pingo is a place where permafrost bulges beneath a dried lake bed like this one in northern Canada.
(Charles Paull c. 2003 MBARI)

Geologist Charles Paull (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) investigates geologic features similar to pingos (Earth covered ice mounds found in the Arctic) on the Arctic Ocean floor where methane—a powerful greenhouse gas—bubbles through sediments and forms hundreds of low hills. Read an MBARI feature story “Of Pingos and Pockmarks” and find out more about Charles Paull’s research.

Tags: Geology Arctic