February 10, 2013: Frost Flowers

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Gun Lake in British Columbia,Canada - frost flowers.

When these photographs were taken "the air was extremely cold and extremely dry, colder than the ocean surface. When the air gets that different from the sea, the dryness pulls moisture off little bumps in the ice, bits of ice vaporize, the air gets humid - but only for a while. The cold makes water vapor heavy. The air wants to release that excess weight, so crystal by crystal, air turns back into ice, creating delicate, feathery tendrils that reach sometimes two, three inches high, like giant snowflakes. The sea, literally, blossoms."

Photographer: Michelle Nortje www.southchilcotin.ca

That's amazing

Beautiful.

Gun [COLOR="Red"]Lake[/COLOR] in British Columbia,Canada - frost flowers.

When these photographs were taken "the air was extremely cold and extremely dry, colder than the [COLOR="red"]ocean[/COLOR] surface. When the air gets that different from the [COLOR="red"]sea[/COLOR], the dryness pulls moisture off little bumps in the ice, bits of ice vaporize, the air gets humid - but only for a while. The cold makes water vapor heavy. The air wants to release that excess weight, so crystal by crystal, air turns back into ice, creating delicate, feathery tendrils that reach sometimes two, three inches high, like giant snowflakes. The [COLOR="red"]sea[/COLOR], literally, blossoms."

Those are cool, but I don't understand the ocean and sea references, in the quote. Gun Lake is almost 3,000 ft above sea level. :confused:

It would be awesome to be the size of a mouse in a miniature canoe and explore those.

That's so awesome! Amazing. I never could have imagined something like that could happen and look so uniform.

footfootfoot;852235 wrote:

It would be awesome to be the size of a mouse in a miniature canoe.

That's all you need to say.

Wow.

NPR apparently did a bit on this recently. I never heard of these things. Amazing.

Sundae;852276 wrote:

That's all you need to say.

Do you mean I had you at miniature canoe?

You had me at mouse, you saucy whatsit.

All the ladies like the little man in a boat.

If you're going up the canal you gots to pay the gondolier.

We're one "rosebud" comment away from a circular thread drift.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two streams converged in a pond, and I—
I took the one more frozen,
And that has made all the difference

from wiki article "Frost Flower (Sea Ice)"

Frost flowers are ice crystals commonly found growing on young sea ice and thin lake ice in cold, calm conditions.

:D

Then the flutings of their Ionian
Death-gowns.
Then two little feet.
He does not smile or smoke.

The other does that
His hair long and plausive
Bastard
Masturbating a glitter
He wants to be loved.

I do not stir.
The frost makes a flower,
The dew makes a star,
The dead bell,
The dead bell.




Somebody's done for.



NOT the entire poem, Death&Co by Plath, but the frost makes a flower reminded me of this part of the poem.

footfootfoot;852475 wrote:

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two streams converged in a pond, and I—
I took the one more frozen,
And that has made all the difference

+1 clever
+1 apropos

Very cool indeed "Mr Frost"