The first is that of cryoconite holes. These occur when foreign matter, usually a fragment of rock or a patch of sediment, winds up on an ice surface. Due to the darker color, it absorbs more solar radiation than the surrounding ice. As a consequence, if the ambient temperature is close to freezing it can settle into the in a hole of its own making through melting. These holes are never just the diameter of the particle, but larger since ice within a certain radius is also affected by the elevated temperature. As the hole descends below the surface, the shielded air within exhibits higher than ambient temperatures when insolated, reinforcing the process.

The other phenomenon is surface scalloping, of which suncups is a fairly well known example. This ‘golfball surface like’ presentation occurs in a wide variety of sites and is seen in a wide variety of scales; despite their visual similarities, a spectrum of mechanisms are involved. They all involve positive feedback loops that cause a random, minor surface irregularity to grow; a negative feedback loop would erase them to a planar surface. These depressions, like the cryoconite holes, reach a terminal depth where the feedback loop weakens and an equilibrum ensues.

This equilibrum represents a visual illustration of self restraint, of natural and inherent voluntary limitation. Given the current human-inflicted condition of the rest of the biosphere, the metaphorical implication is not difficult to decode.

In nature, these two are not seen in combination, but they share these aspects. They can be united here via the magic of artistic license.