Ice Worms

While out on a walk Thursday morning, I encountered an entirely new macro ice formation that I had no idea existed. Roughly the diameter of spaghetti, it is frozen water ejected from worm tubes that froze on contact with the outside air which hovered at or slightly below freezing during the overnight. Unsure of what it might be called as everything these days has a name, a friend suggested Frost Flowers. Since the liquid was free standing and not extruding from or clinging to any type of foliage it is not this phenomena. On the same page however, I clicked Needle Ice and though I have been unable to find illustrations similar to these, I believe this to be an accurate description of the process though not necessarily of the subject being represented.







Keeping in mind that this is no thicker than a coffee stirrer, I also discovered a tiny Ice Spike that was no larger than a sewing needle tip. Ice spikes aren't particularly common so to find one developing on an equally bizarre as well as rare formation makes this a highly successful outing. You're never too old discover something new.