Saturday, March 15, 2008

Update on Ice Circles

Yesterday I had posted photos of a fascinating find of many ice circles near the base of a waterfall near Wirral, NB. This post today is a follow up of yesterday's; however, in a sort of way it might be considered its prequel , for today I saw what were the beginnings of more ice circles being formed.
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The video below shows the transition that has taken place since I had first found the ice circles.

What I found very interesting is that although a solid sheet of ice had been formed in the area where the ice circles had been previously, some of the circles could still be seen under the ice. (see photo above)
Today a lot of foam had collected near the upper left corner of the newly formed ice sheet and in the following close up views you can see cookie-like circular shapes of accumulated foam which have been formed there.

I was initially disappointed not to have found the ice circles again, but in retrospect, although not as beautiful, these foam cookies were equally as fascinating.

Recipe for Ice Circles

Stir up a batch of foam cookies near a waterfall

then toss into Mother Nature's deep freeze until frozen.

13 comments:

  1. That is so interesting! I'm glad you keep getting more information on these things and the pictures are fantastic! So is the video. First they were pancakes, then discs, now cookies! Do they come in Chocolate chip?

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  2. Well we'll see Mary, when I serve them with our morning cuppa tea :-)

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  3. Very interesting post today! I love your recipe. :) I did some Googling yesterday and came up with some results with "pancake ice". Check out the Image Search function, too. Aside from the interesting text results, you can see lots of pictures. Some of these things can be huge and are reminiscent of crop circles. I went back into my files yesterday and actually found some circles that were on land, too. I can't imagine how those were formed. They sure are interesting! Thanks for sharing this great update!

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  4. Sandpiper:
    This is all so very intriguing and interesting isn't it? And the foam cookies I saw yesterday seem to fall in line with what you had noted or assumed earlier about the formation of your 'pancakes': ie: frozen foam. Its interesting how a topic develops, you just see something so unexpected, then follow up on it and all of a sudden a few things, with the help of photos, seem to fall into place. This has been an interesting adventure. So glad that you had shared your photos when you found them.

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  5. Anonymous9:35 PM

    Your ice circles do look very pancaky. Great post!

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  6. April:
    Glad that you enjoyed. Thanks for your comment.

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  7. You've done it again. Thanks for sharing. Excellent detective work. That old saying "Ain't Nature Grand", still applies. Troy

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  8. It is fun and I learned some things too when searching for answers. I'm glad you shared your pictures because they're so much better than mine and it gave me the chance to see them more closely.

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  9. I'm a regulat visitor to your site, and am always in awe of your excellent photos and grasp of the natural world. The ice disks are amazing; I will be keeping my eye open for them in the future, now that I know they exist! Thank you for taking the time to share your photos and insights with us on your blog- you're by no means a retired teacher because so many of us that visit your site are gleaning a wealth of wonderful info!

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  10. Sandpiper:
    I just had so many more to take pictures of!

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  11. texas travelers:
    Thank you for your comments. The detective work is the fun for sure, especially when you're taken totally by surprise with some new trick up nature's sleeve! Glad that you enjoyed.

    devona:
    I've kind of wondered at times if the 'teacher' part in me was showing through :-) Some days I think I get a little sidetracked with some new fascination I've found and come across like I'm still preparing lesson plans for the day's nature class. Thank you for your much appreciated observation on that. Also thank you for your visits; and glad that you enjoy.

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  12. Great idea adding video to your blog. I had just began to do that as well last week. But, the idea is still so new to me, that often times I forget to make a video while I am taking photos. I guess my brain can only handle one task at once. :)

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  13. daniel:
    The use of video is fun, but like you I often forget to use it. Its a difficult choice sometimes as to what to do; for often as soon as I start to video I miss an opportunity of a still closeup shot I would have liked to have taken. What to do... as you said, one task at a time, one camera at a time.

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