piece of ice, generally has the shape of a wedge with the apex pointing towards the bottom. This ice is vertically foliated and is generally white.
a buildup of ice in frozen soil, that is wedge-shaped in cross-section.
Wedge-shaped, ice body composed of vertically oriented ground ice that extends into the top of a permafrost layer. These features are approximately 2 to 3 meters wide at their top and extend into the soil about 8 to 10 meters. Form in cracks that develop in the soil during winter because of thermal contraction. In the spring, these cracks fill with liquid water from melting snow which subsequently re-freezes. The freezing process causes the water to expand in volume increasing the size and depth of the crack. The now large crack fills with more liquid water and again it freezes causing the crack to enlarge.This process continues for many cycles until the ice wedge reaches its maximum size.
Wedge ice comprises a series of ice veins (ice occupying cracks in permafrost) that are formed at the same location over time.
A massive, generally wedge-shaped body with its apex pointing downward, composed of foliated or vertically banded, commonly white, ice.
water that freezes in the crevices of a rock and cause mechanical stress through expansion
narrow ice mass that is 3 to 4 meters (10 to 13 feet) wide at the ground surface, and extends as much as 10 meters (33 feet) down; a decrease in temperature during the winter leads to ice wedge cracks in the ground around ice wedges; during the summer, these cracks accumulate melt-water and sediment, forming pseudomorphs.
An ice wedge, another process associated with periglacial environments, is a narrow mass of ice that can be 3 or 4 meters wide at ground surface and extend up to 10 meters downwards. During winter the ground gets very cold. The water in the ground freezes and expands.