sinking ice

[DrPhil]

I recently read a post here alluding to sinking ice. Personally I have never seen ice sink and am curious how this phenomena occurs. Can anyone explain this to me? If I remember right ice has a density of about .9 which makes it rather buoyant.

[douG]

I was thinking the same, in a curious sorta way.

[Terry]

the only sinking ice I have ever seen is in rivers that have a dam or something blocking the spring run off and it busts or a flash flood

and flows over the ice, which pushes it to the bottom

if that is what you are talking about

[Cast-Away]

Usually ice does not sink. It crystalizes and breaks up into extremely small pieces.

[Spiel]

I recently read a post here alluding to sinking ice. Personally I have never seen ice sink and am curious how this phenomena occurs. Can anyone explain this to me? If I remember right ice has a density of about .9 which makes it rather buoyant.

 

 

 

....While I'm not sure what post you're refering to it did lead me to respond with a link about

Frazil Ice. It forms in moving water and often adheres to the bottom.

[Guest gbfisher]

Fill a glass with Appleton's 151....add 2 ice cubes............. watch them sink ......

 

[Nemo]

It's an illusion. It is usually observed when you are in your ice hut and the ice melts. You think the ice is sinking but it is actually the weight of your body pushing the ice down. Once you slip off the ice and start to sink in the water you realize "hey that ice just floated back to the top"

 

This phenomenon usually observed from below....few written accounts just hearsay and speculation

[tjsa]

I recently read a post here alluding to sinking ice. Personally I have never seen ice sink and am curious how this phenomena occurs. Can anyone explain this to me? If I remember right ice has a density of about .9 which makes it rather buoyant.

 

That was probably a post by me, and it does indeed sink, but mostly in rivers and small ponds where low water levels cannot sustain its weight in the springtime. It just falls to the bottom, and stays there for a few weeks. Even in warm weather, it does not melt that fast, if there isn't any moving water above it. It evaporates, which is a slow process, instead of melting, which is a faster process with moving water going over it.

[carll2]

ive seen ice sink before.. once on trout opener we arrived at a lake that was pretty well iced over solid the next morning it had dissapeared, so i think ice can sink in placess that have no current

[DrPhil]

Thank you Spiel, the info on frazil ice was interesting and explains how ice can form on the bottom. I still don't understand how something lighter than water can sink. I can see ice jams where ice is mounded upon other ice having enough weight to push the lower ice deeper until it eventually hits the bottom. It seems to me that in order to have sinking ice you either have to decrease the density of the water or increase the density of the ice?

[camillj]

Many say that if ice didnt float we wouldnt have life as we know it on earth...

 

But yes ... I have experienced the phenomenon on the tribs many times ... especially on a sudden severe cold snap after a warm spell in the winter (or early spring) ... suddenly there is a 'slush' clinging to the rocks and bottom ... which when released actually does float as you would expect it to ...