July 9, 2011 Frozen air bubbles

From: http://todayilearned.co.uk/

Anyone know how bubbles get trapped like that?

CaliforniaMama;744010 wrote:

Anyone know how bubbles get trapped like that?

Don't know your answer, but when I was a kid growing up in New England my parents taught me to look at ice on a pond and see how far down the bubbles went. That would give me an idea of how thick the ice was before I'd decide if I could skate on it or not.

Ponds and such freeze from the surface downward. Even with ice on the top, there is movement of the water underneath. I assume that bubbles get created in the current and get trapped by the ice above which freezes more and more downward.

This is my guess... :hide:

If she cracks she bears, if she bends she breaks
(line from a classic horror story)

Sundae;744013 wrote:

If she cracks she bears, if she bends she breaks
(line from a classic )

I NEVER SAID THAT! <sulks away>






:cool:

Deny away, I know what I know about you and bears.

:)

f she cracks she bears, if she bends she breaks
(line from a classic horror story)

Being your average Aussie, I know little about ice. My first winter in Holland, when the canal outside our farm froze we walked onto it, and it went CRAAAAACK! I went EEEEEEK! and all the Dutchies went, "oh, that's good. Good ice." I said "fuff that!" (or something like that) and went back inside the house. My Dutch sweetie's father asked me how the ice was and I described it, including the CRAAAAAAACK! and he said ""oh, that's good. Good ice." Yeah, right.

A few years later, still in Holland, we were on a frozen lake - Dutch sweetie on skates, me on a converted sled (wrapped in blankies and carrying the thermos and cake... as I can't skate) and he was pushing me along when it went CRAAAAAACK! in all directions, in a star pattern with me in the middle. He said "oooh, that's not good" and we headed back. So there is CRAAAAAACK! and then there's CRAAAAAACK!

Not all crack is good ice it would seem.

CRAAAAAACK kills...

That is a crazy pic, CaliMama.

CaliforniaMama;744010 wrote:

Anyone know how bubbles get trapped like that?

Fish farts.

:D

Temp get cold. Water freezes and produces 1/2 inch of ice. Bubbles of gas from lake bottom rise and get trapped underneath the ice layer. The next night when it gets cold again, more water freezes and ice becomes thicker forming on the ice above it but not on the bubble except at the edges. The next day, more gas bubbles up getting trapped again. Repeat over many days and night all winter long..

Thank you, Dougie. Welcome.

Welcome Dougie - clear and concise explantaion.
Although I had to reread it a few times. Bubbles in my brain were making it hard to visualise.

Get a load of Dougie with the believable explanation. :welcome:

Another possible explanation is that they are the gaseous diffusions from the GI tract of hibernating furred arctic mannatees. As they slowly digest stored fat, it eventually works its way out and floats to the surface. Some Inuit tribes use it as fuel by drilling a small hole in the top of the ice and lighting it. As the gas burns, it goes down and opens up the underlying bubbles. Really.

:eek: