The Ice Castle Creations of Brent Christensen
Photo: ShutterStein
"The Ice Castles are miraculously made entirely out of ice with no supporting substructure. Their beauty lies in their organic, ever-evolving nature. These changing ice formations are dynamic, larger than life, and something entirely new and unique.s."
"Nothing sparks an imagination like walking through the turquoise-colored tunnels of the Ice Castles. The Ice Castles evolve throughout the winter, as builders artistically hand-place thousands upon thousands of icicles to create simply unique and amazing ice structures. Formed completely from frozen water — with no supporting substructure — the Ice Castles beckon people to play, pose and ponder within their glistening walls." Ice Castles
Ice Cover on Lake Sakakawea, North Dakota
"This photograph taken by an astronaut on the International Space Station illustrates the harsh winter conditions frequently experienced in North Dakota. Ice covers the surface of northwestern Lake Sakakawea, a reservoir on the Missouri River. A local weather station near New Town, North Dakota, reported an air temperature of -24°C (-11°F), with a wind chill of approximately -32°C (-25°F) at 10:36 a.m. local time—six minutes before the image was taken. In addition to the grey ice on the lake, a dusting of white snow highlights the agricultural fields to the north and northeast, as well as fissures and irregularities in the ice surfaces. For a sense of scale, the arms of the lake to either side of New Town are approximately 10 kilometers (6 miles) apart.
Lake Sakakawea is named—in the Hidatsa language—for the Shoshone woman generally known as Sacagawea, or “Bird Woman.” In 1805 –1806, she accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition as an interpreter and guide.
The lake was created in 1954 following the completion of Garrison Dam (not shown) on the Missouri River. With a surface area of approximately 148,924 hectares (368,000 acres) and length of 286 kilometers (178 miles), Lake Sakakawea is one of the largest artificial reservoirs in the United States."
Ice Flowers
"Ice flowers are formed on new layers of sea ice, from saturated water vapors that come up from under the ice through cracks. In contact with the cold air, the vapors start to freeze and the salt on the surface of the ice begins to crystallize and serves as a nucleus for the frozen vaporized water. Thus, molecule by molecule the ice flowers begin to take shape. They have recently been recognized as the dominant source of sea salt aerosol in Antarctica and scientist suspect they may be the main cause of tropospheric ozone depletion during the polar sunrise. One of the most beautiful frozen wonders on Earth, ice flowers are still a mystery to many people."
more via mytechnologyworld9.blogspot.com
Blue Ice Crystals
Photographer : Trent LaCour
"These angular ice crystals formed on the side of a rock outcrop near Dungeness, on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. This picture was taken in the shaded portion of a gravel pit just after a cold snap -- morning temperatures were in the mid- to upper 20s F (about -3 C). The crystals are approximately three-quarters to one and a quarter inch (20-32 mm) wide. The blue hue of the crystals is attributed to light from the sky, which tints daytime shadows, especially if the sky is clear and the Sun is low -- as was the case this day. Additionally, water and ice are intrinsically bluish since they absorb more in the red portion of the spectrum than in the blue. However, for this inherent coloration to be readily noticeable, the ice would generally need to be much thicker than an inch or so."
via epod.usra.edu
Ice on Utah Lake
"This photo shows randomly oriented elliptical openings in the ice of mostly frozen Utah Lake in northern Utah. It was taken through the open window of a small aircraft flying approximately 1,000 m above the surface on December 27, 2011. Note that despite the orientation of the openings, the biggest has a major axis of perhaps 20 m in length; pale triangles have formed on their lower ends, which are more or less facing the same direction. The apexes of the triangles are pointed toward the southeast -- north is at right. This gives a clue as to their origins; deposits of salt spray from northwest winds.
A number of factors likely come into play to determine the teardrop shape, size and orientation of these holes, including strength, persistence and direction of the wind and the thickness and compression and tension of the ice. Moreover, because Utah Lake is shallow, average depth is about 3 m, strong winds can stir up bottom sediments, which will ultimately affect surface conditions and freeze-up rates. As winter wears on, the holes eventually freeze over, and the lake ice becomes so thick that small aircraft looking for the nearby airport when visibility is poor have been known to mistakenly land on the completely frozen lake surface."
via epod.usra.edu
'Brinicle' ~ A Cold, Cold Finger of Death, by Ice
As brine from the sea ice sinks, a 'brinicle' forms threatening life on the sea floor with a frosty fate.
A bizarre underwater "icicle of death" has been filmed by a BBC crew.
With timelapse cameras, specialists recorded salt water being excluded from the sea ice and sinking.
The temperature of this sinking brine, which was well below 0C, caused the water to freeze in an icy sheath around it.
Where the so-called "brinicle" met the sea bed, a web of ice formed that froze everything it touched, including sea urchins and starfish.
More on This Story via bbc.co.uk
SunGlacier : An Ice Producing Perpertuum Mobile
"Inspired by a leaf, covered with solar panels, we attrack moisture from the air and cool it into ice. Indeed: creating a glacier in a hot and dry desert. Why a is it called a glacier? Because the process doesn't stop. An ice producing Perpertuum Mobile. This week we start with testing the systems at Cofely, but the pre-test showed already good results."
via sunglacier.blogspot.com
Scalloped Blue Ice
by John Adam
"The photo above shows a chunk of scalloped ice, about 65 ft in width that broke off from the Sawyer Glacier near Tracy Arm Fjord in southeastern Alaska. Note the pure blue color emanating from within the “chasm.” The mechanism responsible for producing this robin’s egg blue color, as well as the blue color in deep snow, is essentially the same as that giving deep water its blue color. The longer wavelengths (yellow and red light) present in the incident white sunlight are preferentially absorbed by ice crystals. As a result, what we see is what’s not absorbed -- reflected light that’s dominated by the green and blue portion of the spectrum. In general, the thicker the ice the greater the absorption, and thus the bluer the color."
via epod.usra.edu
