Frozen falls and different wacky winter water
REMINDER: venturing out onto unsafe ice places your life (and the lives of first responders) in danger. Absorb the great thing about winter shorelines from strong floor.
When most of us image winter ice, we conjure up psychological pictures of skating rinks and icicles. However do you know there’s a variety of selection in wintry water formations?
From frozen falls to ice volcanoes, winter water is kind of a sight to behold:
Winter waterfalls
We began with the primary attraction. Everybody loves waterfalls, however we don’t all the time cease to think about how they alter with the seasons.
For instance, Kakabeka Falls at Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park – at 40 metres excessive – is the second highest waterfall in Ontario, and it positive appears neat when all that water freezes!
How about some before-and-after?
Ragged Falls actually appears completely different below a blanket of snow!
And take a look at the winter transformations of those three Lake Superior Provincial Park waterfalls!
Agawa Falls – fall versus winter:
Til Creek Falls – summer season versus winter
Sand River – fall versus winter:
Groundwater “falls”
Groundwater seepage happens year-round on the panorama, and, boy, can or not it’s dramatic on winter cliffs!
In ice-free seasons, gravity causes groundwater seepage to move unobtrusively down the rocks. However in winter, the groundwater freezes because it flows and builds up into an ice fall that “grows” down the slope.
Melting “falls”
Melting snow and ice trickles over the facet of the rock lower, finally re-freezing.
Similar to an icicle, it will get greater and larger, finally turning into monumental!
Shelf ice
Shelf ice seems alongside the shoreline. It’s fashioned by waves pushing sheet after sheet of ice in opposition to the seaside.
Security Reminder: these ice formations have many hidden skinny spots and ice tunnels that funnel folks into the water with no escape.
Get pleasure from these formations from strong floor and DO NOT stroll on the ice.
Ice “pancakes”
Behold: the uncommon and elusive snow pancake!
These fashioned on the backside of a small set of rapids on a really chilly day (round -20°C). There was little wind to disrupt the present. As a small piece of ice fashioned, it saved spinning within the present, forming practically good circles.
Ice volcanoes
Lake Ontario nearly by no means freezes over. And typically – when situations are good – we get volcanoes!
When it will get chilly sufficient, ice begins increase alongside the shoreline as an ice shelf. If the temperature, wind path and wave peak is correct, the sloping limestone simply offshore funnels waves below the ice shelf and up by means of it at a weak level.
This leads to a blowhole kind phenomenon, with icy water spewing up into the air by means of the ice.
This water falls again down and freezes, finally increase a cone by means of which the water continues to erupt. A volcano! An ice volcano!
Solar canine
Right here’s a rarity. This can be a picture of a solar canine (see the rainbow bracketing the winter solar?).
However wait, you say. How is that something to do with ice?
Sundogs type when daylight passes by means of ice crystals within the ambiance, which act like a prism and refract the sunshine.
Self-rolling snowballs
Okay, they’re not ice, however Algonquin’s self-rolling snowballs are a positive signal of spring.
On heat days in late winter, you may spot these self-rolling snowballs on some Freeway 60 hillsides on Algonquin Provincial Park.
As a chunk of snow drops off the crest, gravity rolls it downhill and it accumulates extra mass because it rolls.
Visiting your favorite park?
Preserve your eyes open for frozen falls and different “cool” ice formations. And once you snap a pic and submit it on social media, don’t neglect to tag us!
