Ice Spears
In late November, 2007 while chasing our cat who escaped
into the back yard
and ran under my truck, I noticed some weird ice crystals protruding from
the
tailgate. (These photos were taken after I caught the cat and took him back
into
the house.) It had rained on the preceding day and then got cold overnight.
A
little research (see "New Scientist" Dec. 27, 2003 issue, pages
38-39) has found
that these crystals are formed when the surface freezes while below the temperature
is about 4 degrees warmer. They apparently form in less than 10 minutes! These
seven photos were taken at about 10:30 am.
Click on pictures to Magnify
Ice spears on tailgate
Ice spears
Ice spear twins
Ice spear zoned
Ice spear 6cm
Ice spear 8cm
Alan Goldstein
Here is a link that illustrates how these crystals
are formed.
You can click on the pictures to Magnify
Click
Here
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