Ice Flowers

O

oldgrowth

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When conditions are just right, I have these Ice Flowers growing up my creek. The only place I have ever seen them grow is about a 200 foot stretch of my creek and within 30 feet of the creek bed. Yesterday there were hundreds of them growing. It was quite a site.

They are so delicate, just blowing on it or jarring it will cause it to disintegrate. It is snowing here now so they are gone.

For a larger view click on the thumbnails.
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Way cool, Oldgrowth. Never seen anything like that. Looks like they are growing out of a pith-cored stalk. Must be moisture wicking up the stalk and freezing as it exits the stalk. Horizontal icicles! A real tribute to the wonders of water.

Thanks for posting these. They are a rare find.
 
Conditions this year was perfect for them. Everything was saturated from the heavy rains we had just before our flood. The Ice Flower forms mostly on dead Alder twigs ¼ inch to 1 ¼ inches in diameter where the bark has fallen off. It has to be dead calm absolutely no breeze then when the temperature gets down to 32 degrees the moisture in the twig freezes as it is pushed out of the pores. If it drops much below 32 degrees it just forms ice on the twig.

I don’t know why the ice threads curl up and the ends get feathery. The threads are thinner than a single strand of a spiders web.

They always form on the underside of a stick. The stick does not have to be horizontal but cannot be vertical. The stick only has to be 10 to 15 degrees from vertical and the threads will form and curl back around the stick.

Before the snow destroyed all of them, I found one protected by a tree and took a photo of its top and the bottom. However the snow had already knocked the feathery ends off. It was about 14 inches above the ground on a horizontal stick about 1 3/8 inches in diameter. Before the snow knocked the ends of the threads off, I would guess it would be at least 5 ½ inches across. In the photo it is 3 3/4 inches across.

The photos below are the top and bottom of the Ice Flower.

For a larger view click on the thumbnails.
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Marvelous. Thanks for sharing.

The only objects I have seen that bears a resemblance (other than 'frost' in an old, little-used ice cream container in the freezer) are helictites -- a cave formation that grows, sometimes horizontally, from the cave wall. They are a thin, delicate calcite crystal that has a fine central capillary of about 0.2 - 0.35 mm diameter. Side micro-canals ('canalicules') are sometimes present, and result in a somewhat porous structure. Typically the helictite has radial symmetry. I have seen them in caves looking almost exactly like your 'ice flowers' but made of solid (albeit very delicate) calcite.
 
Dave, Those are really cool. Thanks for sharing another of natures beauties. It's nice to see the contrast after seeing the devastation of late. Hope you all are doing OK, safe and sound.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
How amazingly beautiful !! Thank you Dave for sharing and giving the details. Love what Harvey said about the contrast to all the flood and wind damage. So true.
Bob & Betsy
 
Sometimes we travel thousands of miles to see incredibly wonderful and beautiful things in nature and forget to look in our own back yard.
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Sometimes we travel thousands of miles to see incredibly wonderful and beautiful things in nature and forget to look in our own back yard.
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Dave, You are right. Many times we overlook the beauties of our own back yard. It takes a special eye, a different perspective and a special knowledge to see and appreciate the beauty in the ordinary, close at hand pieces of the paths of our lives. Thanks again for sharing.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Wow, really beautiful and delicate! The only thing I've seen remotely similar was when in college up at Western Wash. Univ. we drove up the Mt. Baker Hwy. We stopped to look at the very steep Nooksak river gorge from one of those viewpoints. One of the guys threw a football to another and the other missed it and it bounced down into the gorge, far, far below. I went after it, climbing down, using roots and vines as handholds to the very bottom. Though it was sunny up top, the gorge was so steep, iits sides and bottom remained in shadow most of the day. Since there was no wind for some time, the moisture and humidity from the river froze into a thick blanket of Hoarfrost about 4 inches thick, that blanketed everything, all rocks, trees, bushes everywhere. The football wasn't worth risking my life for, but what a jewel I came away with. Water is incredible. C.W.
 
AWESOME WOULD ONLY BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT!!

And yes, to find such peace in such a time when others are still getting hammered. Often, I find that the children slow down enough to see and love the things we busy adults often trod past.... while going no where.

I truly appreciate these shots.

Byrdman
 
I had done a similar search - the wikipedia article and the links within show some other forms of ice flowers. Thanks for sharing. I'd never seen anything like these and it's always nice to learn about something new
 
I hate to bust my own bubble. They are rare but not as rare as I thought.
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Beautiful, Dave. Because someone else has seen them, it does not diminish the fragile beauty you showed us. I've never seen anything like that - quite a treat!

Best wishes,
Jim
 
After living in Montana 25 plus years you would have thought I would have seen all ice anything. But not those VERY COOL. Thanks for sharing
:smiled john :smiled
 
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