I have not seen ice from the late-Pleistocene epoch.

However, I have encountered pingos in the Alaskan Arctic. Some pingos are nearly that old. One of the most prominent pingos, is Betty Pingo. It is located within the oil fields at Prudhoe Bay. However, I don’t know the age of this particular pingo.

To see digital elevation model images of Betty Pingo visit this page and scroll to the very bottom: http://www.uaf.edu/water/faculty/nolan/kuparuk/drmatt_kup_agu.htm

Or, see this image: http://www.uaf.edu/water/projects/NorthSlope/coastal_plain/images/2001_snowmelt/Betty-Pingo/bp-pingo.061700.1232.jpg

The latter image is looking north to the pingo.

As you can imagine, these are significant topographic features on the coastal plain.

I plan to address your second question, how the vegetation differs in the greenhouse chambers from surrounding tundra, in an upcoming dispatch. In summary, the vegetation in the chambers is larger (both taller and has greater biomass) and the timing of stages such as flowering and fruiting is earlier.

Thanks for your interest in our project.

Best,
Amy

Ice features do occur in the Arctic that are quite old; certainly as old as the last glacial maximum (~25,000 years ago). The most common true perennial permafrost mounds are are pingos and palsas. These phenomena both result from freezing of water to an ice core. When I first saw the ice feature described in this dispatch I assumed it was a palsa.

I am not aware of sonar-like tool to determine the nature of a mound amongst the tundra (ice vs. permafrost). It is a very interesting idea, however.

Good luck with assignment.

Best,
Amy

Have you ever found ice from the Pleistocene epoch period? Also what are the main differences from the plants in the open-top green houses and in their natural ecosystems?

Thank you,

Avi Schochet