Frost Spikes 5: view from the side

[rjlittlefield]

Some of you know that I am fascinated by the frost spikes that form on oil-treated wood of my deck. (See previous posts: 1, 2, 3, 4.)

There was a particularly good crop of them this morning.

The set shown above was on a railing, nicely posed for shooting in profile.

Field width about 3 inches. Field depth about 5 inches, stack of 17 frames.

--Rik

Technical: Canon 300D, Sigma 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens at 1:4, f/11 nominal, 1/25 second, ISO 100, tripod mount, stacked by focus ring.

[Aynia]

Wow. These are amazing.

I'm too new to know you were into frosty spikes.

You are very lucky to get them...

[P_T]

What the heck?!?

How big are those spikes? seems very sharp, would they cut your hand?

[rjlittlefield]

P_T, they're typically around 10 mm in length, and very fragile -- no danger at all. See HERE for images with some scale references in them.

Aynia, I agree -- they are amazing, and I am lucky to have them.

It's still a mystery to me exactly what causes these to form. I have noticed them only on this one type of wood, and only for the last few years. I suppose that they are started by some surface structure that is peculiar to the wood and the oil that it is treated with, and then the crystals just keep extending along their axes. But the details, the details???

--Rik