Frost Spikes 2

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 9:59 pm

Back in November, I posted pictures of some weird frost spikes that had formed on my freshly oiled wood deck.

Well, guess what -- they've been coming back periodically all winter. We've had a warm winter -- lots of frosts but not much snow. Now it's getting on toward spring, the days are warmer but the nights are still cold, and the frost spikes are getting bigger than ever!

I checked how big a dime is: 17 mm diameter. That makes the biggest of those frost spikes over 14mm long, and perfectly straight. I would be fascinated to learn what process causes these things to form!

The process that makes them go away is interesting as well. 10 minutes after I shot these pictures, the spikes had completely vanished, leaving behind not even a trace of water. Apparently they just sublimed away in the light of the rising sun. Not a bad way to go, actually.

--Rik

Canon Digital Rebel
Sigma 105mm at f/16, 1/125 sec, ISO 800

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 4:46 am

Rik said:

Apparently they just sublimed away in the light of the rising sun. Not a bad way to go, actually

Nuclear weapons have the same effect on us!

Nice shots Rik, the dime makes a good comparison.

MikeBinOKlahoma · Post by **MikeBinOKlahoma** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 8:30 pm

Very interesting! I did a little googling to find out more about these. Didn't find out what I wanted to find out about, but learned something interesting about a different sort of ice spike....You know the little spikes that sometimes stick up out of ice cubes when you pull the ice cube out of the freezer? Here's the explanation. Way cool!

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/ ... ikes_x.htm

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 10:37 am

MikeBinOKlahoma wrote:You know the little spikes that sometimes stick up out of ice cubes when you pull the ice cube out of the freezer?

No, I did not know about those! My entire life, I have made ice cubes only with tap water, which as the article explains has dissolved impurities that prevent the spikes from forming. My ice cubes mound, but they don't spike.

Now I gotta try this with distilled water. Thanks for the pointer!

--Rik

Bald Eagle · Post by **Bald Eagle** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 5:28 pm

Rik, I really like these, very different kind of Ice, is it possible you can get a closer shot of one of these when they form again?

MikeBinOKlahoma · Post by **MikeBinOKlahoma** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 6:17 pm

Rik, they really do work....I've seen them with our tap water for years, and assumed they were maybe the result of dripping from a rack above or something (I didn't feel good about that explanation, and not it seems that I had good reason not to feel good!).

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 7:32 pm

Bald Eagle wrote:Rik, I really like these, very different kind of Ice, is it possible you can get a closer shot of one of these when they form again?

Glad you like them, Rick. I'm thinking there's something strange going on with the oiled wood. This frost doesn't form on other surfaces -- just the deck and rails. But the deck is 10 years old, I've used the same treatment before, and I don't recall seeing this frost in previous years. So, I'm really quite puzzled!

Anyway, about your request... There's not a lot more detail that appears at higher magnification.

Here's a closer crop from a bit earlier in the same session.

If good ones happen again, I'll see if I can get you even closer.

Also, did you look at the other pics at http://www.photomacrography1.net/forum/ ... php?t=3838?

--Rik

MikeBinOKlahoma · Post by **MikeBinOKlahoma** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 8:08 pm

Many products do get quietly reformulated....Unless you are using something generic. But I think you are right, probably has something to do with water beading up on the "oil"y surface.