Posted by Bruce King on December 5, 2010 at 6:55 PM
Found this cool ice formation while searching for a lake (Elbow Lake-Pierce Co.) my father and I used to fish back in the mid-60's. OOPS, there I go dating myself. But hey, I was only 8 or 9 yrs old.
Anyway, these ice filaments seemed to grow only on dead, barkless branches that had fallen into the underbrush. There were many to inspect but this was one of the larger examples. For a sense of scale the branch is about 1/2 inch dia. Ever see these?
BTW I found what I think used to be Elbow Lake but it's just a pond now, much of it grown over. Too bad, it was an amazing place back in the day.
Posted by Keith Nelson on December 6, 2010 at 8:29 PM
Pretty amazing! I've never seen anything like it.
"Elbow Lake" yikes, now you are dating me, too... NO, not that "dating"! My Mom's Sister lived right next to Elbow Lake, it was almost a slough instead of a "lake". My Aunt worked in the bank there... forever!
Posted by David Bostock on December 12, 2010 at 9:49 PM
Wow, that is incredible.
Posted by Sean Bagshaw on December 16, 2010 at 1:17 PM
That's a new one on me. Never seen ice form in strands like that. I wonder what the physics behind that are?
Posted by Richard Olsen on December 27, 2010 at 12:05 PM
Very cool!
This is similar to something I witnessed in Alaska years ago.
We were out on the tundra, late fall with low nightime temps. In the morning there would be growth out of the ground similar to this, only with larger diameter shafts.
I'll bet this is caused from the branch giving off water vapors from pores, then freezing as they hit the air.
Discussion
4 repliesAnyway, these ice filaments seemed to grow only on dead, barkless branches that had fallen into the underbrush. There were many to inspect but this was one of the larger examples. For a sense of scale the branch is about 1/2 inch dia. Ever see these?
BTW I found what I think used to be Elbow Lake but it's just a pond now, much of it grown over. Too bad, it was an amazing place back in the day.
"Elbow Lake" yikes, now you are dating me, too... NO, not that "dating"! My Mom's Sister lived right next to Elbow Lake, it was almost a slough instead of a "lake". My Aunt worked in the bank there... forever!
Wow, that is incredible.
This is similar to something I witnessed in Alaska years ago.
We were out on the tundra, late fall with low nightime temps. In the morning there would be growth out of the ground similar to this, only with larger diameter shafts.
I'll bet this is caused from the branch giving off water vapors from pores, then freezing as they hit the air.