Nothing Otherworldly About Arctic Formations

Dramatic circles of rocks or stripes of stones precisely aligned on Arctic plains may look like navigation markers for invading aliens, but geologist Mark A. Kessler of UC Santa Cruz says they’re just Mother Nature playing games. In Friday’s issue of Science, Kessler said the phenomena are caused by long seasons of deep cold and the heaving and contraction of waterlogged, frozen soil.

The freeze-thaw cycle, Kessler said, causes the stones to move and forms domains, or separated collections, of soil and rock. In one such case, on the island of Spitsbergen north of continental Norway above the Arctic Circle, the movement causes the stones to form circles that resemble giant doughnuts on barren plains.