December 26, 2007

• The Ice Shelf

  Temperatures here have fluctuated below and above freezing for varying durations this month, and winds and waves here range from nonexistent to extreme.  In response to these conditions, a massive shelf of ice has alternately frozen into form and melted away along the shore of Lake Ontario near my parents’ home.  I have been quite amazed at the speeds with which it can develop and disappear, and with the broad expanse  and great height to which it can grow.  It seems to coalesce from a collection of frozen orbs ranging in size from grapes to large pumpkins.  As more and more individual orbs are frozen from the icy waters of the lake, they are bounced towards shore by the waves and gradually freeze together into a vast floating raft that may or may not extend solidly to the lake bottom.  I must admit I have not been tempted enough to investigate this
  particular aspect of the ice shelf real closely, as the cost of my
  curiosity could be quite high!  Anyway, when the waves are too weak to push the icy orbs landward to join the growing shelf, they drift waterward of the shelf and are favorite perches for the seagulls. 

  

  

  • 8:20 pm
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