Pingo

[Dune]

I am to illustrate the origin of a pingo (the circular lake that remains), and came to these three stages. I am not very happy with the fat green shrubs, so they have to go. But I need something to show the size of these enormous (about 100m diameter) icy upthrusts, or whatever you would call it, so I was also thinking of some not too large spruce or pine (what's the difference, anyway?). There's not much on a tundra to illustrate size, is there?

I would like some feedback on this, so shoot!  

[Henry Blewer]

You need some people or some animals in the foreground. People would work better; it's a recognizable scale.

Great render. I can't imagine how this could be improved except for the scale issue.

[Dune]

It's supposed to be in an era when not many people were around, around the most recent ice ages. Through holes in the permafrost ground water is pushed up, freezing into cushions of ice, thrusting up and cracking the thin layer of soil, which eventually glides off the smooth ice. There were reindeer, I suppose, and polar bear. But also larch can stand a great deal of cold.

[Eikers]

Mammoths are perhaps the most easily recognizable animal for this scale and era?

[Henry Blewer]

National Geographic used to have photos of these. I think it was an issue about Siberia in the mid 1970's.

[TheBadger]

You do a lot of great work Dune! But this is the most interesting subject matter that I have seen. I have never heard of this phenomenon, which is in its self very interesting. Add to that all the things that one could imagine about it and my mind really takes off.

[Dune]

I changed the layout for the accompanying text to be more logical, so it's three stages from left to right: growing, melting/evaporating and the remaining 'diked' (still frozen) lake. I also made a version with a lot of remaining snow in lower areas, but that became too busy, so I restricted it by another PF. The mammoths are not hairy enough, but that could be done in post. Yossam was so kind to send me some mammoths, which I still have to check out. Anyway, it gives a better idea of size.
If nobody yells you got it all wrong, I'll go for the big one soon...

[Henry Blewer]

I think you have it right.

[Dune]

Final, slightly reduced or it wouldn't fit. The mammoth work perfectly!

[Henry Blewer]

Awesome render! The mammoths look much better also.

[dandelO]

I love the way the broken land rests on the ice beneath! Cool. If I'd viewed the last one before The Big One, I would have said to tone down the blue ice colour a bit but it's an otherwise fantastic render, very nice.

[Dune]

It has to be a little over the top (the ice), or the viewers won't understand it's ice bulging up. In reality it would have been just very dirty soil, with some icy/snowy patches what you'd see. Not much transparency, although I did try that at first.

[Jonathan]

Hi Dune, fascinating subject - nice to see something totally out of the ordinary. My one question is around these upturned upthrust ice bowls...if they are ice would there be anything growing on them, or should I assume that the soil they displace remain hence the vegetation? Really cool renders though! Sitting down the road from Gibraltar right now, and wondering how to model the rock Jonathan.

[inkydigit]

the last one is really excellent!

[Dune]

The whole ground is frozen and things grow on there as well, the soil is just pushed up by the upthrust ice (through a crack in the permafrost). So it'll grow on. They're tough plants and lichen anyway, not the average delicate greens.