Dirty Icing...

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 9:39 am

Well it will never be a movie

I am sure or quite positive that there are a good many of you who are experienceing much worse in the way of winter weather...well...good for you

However, we just have sunny skies and extremely cold temps for the moment, at least for the foothills of WNC. Taking a mornings walk on this cold sunny day I came across this. Moisture having been pulled from the ground by last nights chilly temperatures.

If some of you wonder why the photo looks sort of red, well this is the south..."red clay."

Bruce Williams · Post by **Bruce Williams** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 10:39 am

Ken - I'm amazed - this is a completely new weather phenomena to me. Is there a common name for what you've photographed?

Bruce

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 11:24 am

Oooh, oooh!!!!

This is a new phenomenon to me too, but in my case it's new as of a couple of weeks ago. This post is only the second time that I've seen it.

The photos I saw a couple of weeks ago are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/pellicle/ . I exchange email periodically with the fellow who shot them, and he pointed them out to me.

His emails come from Finland, and he says the phenomenon is so common that there's a word for it in Finnish: "rouste". He says he has also seen it in Japan, where the dampness is similar.

I asked him,

Fascinating! Do you know what the mechanism is? I can only speculate that this occurs at "seeps", where in warmer weather water slowly flows up out of the ground and then runs off the surface. Below freezing, I suppose, it cannot run off and instead gets pushed up by new water rising from below?

He replied "I don't know the mechanism, but surmise it to be as you suggest."

Ken, can you shed any further light on the causes for this ice-pushing-up-out-of-the-ground phenomenon? Is it common where you live also?

--Rik

Tony T · Post by **Tony T** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 11:24 am

Bruce Williams wrote:Ken - I'm amazed - this is a completely new weather phenomena to me. Is there a common name for what you've photographed?

Bruce

No idea for a name. This phenomenon is common up here in Canada. My understanding is that when the ground is at just about freezing and then the air temperature drops, the water in the surface layer freezes.
The soil water below the frozen layer has a great affinity to ice crystals and thus the ice crystals grow as more water is sucked into them and freezes; the path of least resistance is upward into the air.
Areas of several square meters are reasonably common, except this winter when we must have at least 4' of snow

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 12:27 pm

Quite a common occurance down here, out here, depends on where you are at.

Tony's explaination is quite right. The temperatures dropped into the "low teens" last night after a few days of soaking rains. Probably the cause for this right there. As for a name, I read somewhere what it was called and maybe have even heard it on the TV weather a time or two but the name eludes me now.

Thanks everyone!

Cyclops · Post by **Cyclops** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 12:36 pm

Interesting subject Ken!
My new years resolution,get the camera out!

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 1:58 pm

Good resolution there Cyclops, Thanks!

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 12:40 pm

WOW something to look for when the snow melts. A very nice photo and an interesting and unusual subject Ken. I know I have walked on dirt that was crunchy feeling but I never took a close look at it.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 1:44 pm

When the snow is off of the ground and the temperatures fall into the teens is a good time to look for them Doug. Since I doubt the abundnce of red clay up north, not to say that you don't have any but probably less than down here, you should find much cleaner specimens.

Thanks Doug