The Beauty of Ice

[oldhaven]

I looked through the forum and could find no dedicated thread on Ice. I have always lived in the North and ice has been a part of my life for almost half a year every year. While it has been the cause of a couple of destroyed automobiles and some bruises and smashed elbows in my past, for the most part I love the stuff. This picture is of Merrymeeting Bay just a couple of days ago. Since the Bay, is both fresh water and tidal, it ices up completely in longer cold stretches, and we are in one now. What I want to describe, but will not be able to do justice to is the sound the ice makes at least twice in every tide cycle. Since the Bay and the river here are relatively shallow and rocky and the low tide exposes the flats, the ice rises and falls on rocks and high spots around the Bay. This creates an uncanny sound that is probably closest to the singing of whales as the ice stretches cracks and fractures in long drawn out moans. This also occurs in freshwater lakes as they freeze over, but it only happens once a year as winter closes them over. We are very lucky to have this sound symphony here much more frequently. What does not happen here is the way freshwater lakes in the north thaw out and as the ice becomes rotten and water saturated it fractures into its crystalline form, which is usually 3-6 inch long vertical crystals that separate slightly. The floating cakes of ice at this time are affected by wave action and the sound of the crystals against each other sounds like nothing so much as a cocktail with ice being stirred. We tried to always make it up to our cabin for ice out to experience this wonderful few hours, and always had a ceremonial glass of scotch with the last ice of the winter. (This was a very clean Maine lake.)

I hope others will share their ice images or experiences here

 

[oldhaven]

The ice here is just a few days from breaking up. Yesterday a warm wind was blowing across the rotten ice and creating mist on the Bay. What a great time of year, though it is mud season now if you drive dirt roads


The next day this happened. All that ice went out and down the Kennebec River on St.Patricks day after a heavy morning rain.

 

[Hilmersen]

 

[Hilmersen]

 

[skopar steve]

Frozen Quechee river Vt.

 

[Hilmersen]

 

[daveoo]

FP4+




Here the ice will pile up on shore depending on which way the wind blows the ice. This ice shown on the lake isn't ready to break up as we need warmer weather. Once the ice breaks up it can erode shoreline as it creeps on shore. The piles of ice get taller as compared to the ice I showed earlier in the gallery.

Ice doesn't have great tones, but the mottled appearance of rotten ice on the lake is tonally varied. I have seen wonderful photos of icebergs.

 

[oldhaven]

Nice shots of freshwater icebergs. The trees along the bank here suffer each spring as the tide rises and the wind picks up with waves carrying them in like battering rams.

I remember some other postings earlier in this thread that seem to have gone bye-bye. One was of Ice on the Great Lakes forming pressure ridges, probably yours. Wonder what happened?

 

[ddutchison2]

Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden, Vancouver

 

[Vince Lupo]

On our pond in front of the house. Hasselblad 1000f, 60/5.6 Distagon, CFV II 50C digital back.


Grey Owl Thaw by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

 

[pixelated]

 

[AveryWagg]

It was a cold winter here this year. Here's a picture of a small frozen pond within the larger frozen shoreline near Kingston, ON.

 

[oldhaven]

Spring ice on Thanksgiving Brook

 

[Dervla]

Lake Champlain from Perkins Park, Burlington, Vermont

iPhone 12

 

[oldhaven]

 

[j.scooter]

Spring Thaw

 

[Brambling]

Zorkiy 3m, Jupiter 12, film Type 17, March 2020

 

[Dervla]

burning bush and ice

Canon EOS 5D2 and Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM

 

[p.giannakis]

 

[daveoo]

Same lake: