Ice Flowers
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Issue Date
2023
Authors
Norton, Frank
Publisher
Keywords
STEM Photo Contest
Abstract
Description
An early January warm spell was followed by a bitterly cold week. A small freely flowing stream was giving the surrounding air high relative humidity. Small objects sticking above the water or near the edge rapidly cooled to the ambient temperature which was well below freezing. Ice crystals soon formed on each nearby rock and twig surface. Given a significant breeze, the resulting rapid crystal growth would have produced a closely packed mass of small cloudy crystals on each object. When crystals are allowed to grow slowly in calm uniform conditions, new growth place at the edges of old crystals thus enlarging them. The conditions at the stream were optimal for several days which allowed the crystals to grow larger, longer, and more translucent, thus yielding ‘ice flowers’.
2nd place in faculty/staff category
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