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Step Aside Crop Circles, Check Out this Rotating Ice Circle in Maine River

posted by chromas on Wednesday January 16 2019, @04:01PM   Printer-friendly
from the IceDiskDrive dept.

martyb writes:

News of crop circles come and go, but when is the last time you saw a rotating ice circle? A disk of ice approximately 100 yards in diameter has been spotted in the Presumpscot River in Westbrook, Maine:

This week in the city of Westbrook, Maine, a huge, rotating circle of ice formed on the Presumpscot River. While it seems like it could be an omen of the impending apocalypse or a particularly low-effort attempt at a crop circle by extraterrestrials, in reality it appears to be another example of a natural yet rare phenomenon resulting from some simple physics.

Photos taken by and the city of Westbrook's marketing & communications manager, Tina Radel, show the gigantic disk of ice appearing to have a surface area larger than a nearby, multi-story parking garage. True to municipal form, the city also published a video of the ice disk with a dramatic soundtrack:

Pictures and videos in the story require Javascript; videos are posted to YouTube and Vimeo.

Additional coverage at the Portland Press Herald.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by AthanasiusKircher on Thursday January 17 2019, @02:18AM (1 child)

    by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Thursday January 17 2019, @02:18AM (#787716) Journal

    Yeah, thing is -- these are somewhat common in cold places, but usually they're anywhere from a few feet (or smaller) to several yards in diameter.

    This one is roughly a hundred yards in diameter. Though the principles for formation may be roughly the same, I'd imagine such a huge one couldn't form just anywhere... Or even in a place where geographically it would work, you'd need fairly specific conditions.

    So I'd say there's still plenty to be excited about here... And science of more common smaller ones may be helpful in understanding this one.

    Why should understanding and knowledge temper excitement? I don't understand... To me, understanding often leads to greater excitement about a phenomenon...

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 17 2019, @01:06PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 17 2019, @01:06PM (#787871)

    "Why should understanding and knowledge temper excitement? I don't understand... To me, understanding often leads to greater excitement about a phenomenon..."

    Because I was hoping it would be aliens and this ruins that for me.