Interesting ice formations found on farm south of Scranton, ND

[tikkalover]

SCRANTON, N.D. - Have you ever seen these before? Annette Krinke took pictures of some interesting ice formations on the river that runs through her farm 15 miles south of Scranton, N.D.
She noticed them the day after Christmas, and the largest one is estimated to be 6 feet tall.
She says she has never seen anything like this before. They formed in the river in a cow pasture, but the cows have not gone near the formations.



Ice worms???:;:huh

 

[Allen]

These are natural phenomena that you can find just about any year along some stream in ND.

Basic premise is that there is a source of dissolved gas in the water below the ice. Whether this comes from biological decay (such as swamp gas in wetlands), or aeration of the water coming over a small dam (beaver or low-head like in Minot or Dickinson, or ???), eventually those small bubbles of gas just gotta rise to the top and pop. When they do pop, they spray a small amount of water which creates yet another very thin layer of ice around where it popped. Each of these river ice statues, spikes, or whatever you want to call them have a small hole in the center that the air bubble rises up through to eventually pop at the top.

I hear this one is now about 7 ft tall.

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or, they were made by UFO riding space aliens.

 

[dean nelson]

I wonder if that's not caused by similar to ice spikes you see in shallow pools most specifically bird baths. Might just be some super sized version of them.

https://weather.com/tv/shows/strangest-weather/video/triangular-ice-spikes

- - - Updated - - -

These are natural phenomena that you can find just about any year along some stream in ND.

Basic premise is that there is a source of dissolved gas in the water below the ice. Whether this comes from biological decay (such as swamp gas in wetlands), or aeration of the water coming over a small dam (beaver or low-head like in Minot or Dickinson, or ???), eventually those small bubbles of gas just gotta rise to the top and pop. When they do pop, they spray a small amount of water which creates yet another very thin layer of ice around where it popped. Each of these river ice statues, spikes, or whatever you want to call them have a small hole in the center that the air bubble rises up through to eventually pop at the top.

I hear this one is now about 7 ft tall.

- - - Updated - - -

or, they were made by UFO riding space aliens.

Seems logical....never seen them but makes since. Did see a nice ice wheel the other day which was pretty cool...first one of them I've ever seen in person.

 

[luvcatchingbass]

SCRANTON, N.D. - Have you ever seen these before? Annette Krinke took pictures of some interesting ice formations on the river that runs through her farm 15 miles south of Scranton, N.D.
She noticed them the day after Christmas, and the largest one is estimated to be 6 feet tall.
She says she has never seen anything like this before. They formed in the river in a cow pasture, but the cows have not gone near the formations.



Ice worms???:;:huh

Looks like signs the Graboids have found their way out of the desert and are now starting to roam the frozen tundra of ND. I encourage everyone to watch the three documentaries available to learn the evolution and best practices to protect yourselves.

 

[Allen]

I wonder if that's not caused by similar to ice spikes you see in shallow pools most specifically bird baths. Might just be some super sized version of them.

No, not the same. One is a crystallization process (birdbath), hence the regular shape; the other is a depositional environment and creates the more artistic look.

Interestingly, I've never seen the birdbath ice spikes before now.

 

[martinslanding]

fracking ? :;:stirthepot

 

[Allen]

fracking ? :;:stirthepot

No.

 

[BrokenBackJack]

Frozen Snow Snakes. :;:thumbsup

 

[Achucker]

Here is something from the usgs. https://nd.water.usgs.gov/sw/iceformations.html