What Is Frazil Ice?

You may hear more than you want about ice in the winter. But did you know there are many kinds of ice? Not only are there different molecular forms of ice (most of which we do not commonly experience), but there are many different types of the ice form with which we’re familiar.

One is frazil ice. Frazil is ice crystals formed in turbulent water, as in swift streams or rough seas. It’s fascinating to watch it flow. Here are 2 different YouTube videos of frazil ice on Yosemite Creek in Yosemite National Park.

 

The Eskimo language has over 30 words to describe different forms of ice and snow. English does not have that many, but there are at least 12 different English words to describe different kinds of winter ice and snow. Here are a few in addition to frazil.
pogonip – an ice fog that forms in the mountain valleys of the western U.S.
firn – granular snow accumulated on high mountains and compacted into glacial ice.
sastruga – ridges of snow formed on a snowfield by the action of the wind.
verglas – thin coating of ice caused by rain that freezes on impact.

To learn more about different types of ice and how you could win a Nobel prize, see the article Why Is Ice Slippery?
You’ll also learn from the article how to make delicious ice cream in 15 minutes, as well as learn answers to questions like
Why does ice grip windshields, sidewalks, and skin so tenaciously, yet is so slippery?
Why does salt melt ice?

Ice is an amazing product of the Almighty. Soli Deo Gloria.

©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith” (Jude 1:3)
Saturday February 12, 2011 A.D.

Read my February 2011 Bible-Science column
Where Did Cain Get His Valentine?.

From whose womb has come the ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth? Water becomes hard like stone, and the surface of the deep is imprisoned.
(Job 38:29-30)