Covid has led most of us into some kind of distraction. For Chris Barnhart, this has been snowbubbles, creating and freezing soap bubbles and filming the results. You can see some of the results in his Youtube snowbubble video. If you don't want to take the time to experiment, here is a good tutorial.
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| Hoar Frost |
Winter ice forms in many different ways. Above is ice left when an ephemeral stream beside our cabin stopped flowing, leaving nature's ice etching. Hoar frost occurs when water molecules travel in the air unseen except as clouds until they come in contact with much colder frozen ground, creating these tiny icy fragments which never condensed into water.
Our personal favorite ice formations are frost flowers which we have described in numerous blogs including this one by Tonya Smith. These can range from delicate ribbons at ground level on Cunila origanoides (dittany) to projections up the stem of Verbesina virginica (wingstem/white crownbeard).
Frost flowers are only one form of ice segregation which is described at length in studies by Dr. James Carter in a paper below. They all have in common liquid water from the soil or plants coming in contact with freezing air.
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| Needle Ice- Wikipedia |
Needle ice is formed when the air temperature is below freezing and water comes up from the soil by capillary action, freezing at the surface. More water pushes the crystals up, forming thin needles of ice. Another example is pebble ice extruding from stones as seen below.
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| "Pebble Ice" - Washington Post |
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| Hair Ice- Wikipedia | |
Hair ice extrudes from moist rotting wood in a similar fashion. This occurs when the wood is being digested by a fungus, part on the natural return of dead wood to the soil.
Frost flowers are only one form of ice segregation which is described at length in studies by Dr. James Carter available for download here.
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*Note: The term "ice segregation" is also use to describe a process of fracturing rocks by ice described in Wikipedia.