Ice stacking on Lake Superior

February 20, 2016 5:49 AM

I anticipated there would be some ice stacking as the massive sheets of ice met the rugged shorelines, so I headed to Brighton Beach.
posted by tivalasvegas (30 comments total)

That's beautiful... though my first reaction was "ah, yes, thinking about things, it wasn't very likely to be THAT Brighton Beach." (facepalm)
posted by protorp at 5:53 AM on February 20, 2016 [3 favorites]

(aka the first time in ages I've remembered I have post titles disabled)
posted by protorp at 5:55 AM on February 20, 2016

So great. I love Duluth.
posted by Malla at 6:06 AM on February 20, 2016 [6 favorites]

That was so cool.
The really neat thing is that, at first, my brain was trying to tell me that this was time-compressed video...everything was sped-up for effect. But, then you see the wisps of snow being blown around and, nope, not sped-up. Realtime. Amazing.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:11 AM on February 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

That was absolutely sublime. Thank you.
posted by ezust at 6:25 AM on February 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

Lake Superior is a rare place for being able to go see The Elements doing their thing without mediation or limits. Storms, waves, ice caves...it leaves impressions that you can't shake for a long, long time.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:28 AM on February 20, 2016 [4 favorites]

That's so interesting. My spouse's family is from Superior, Wisconsin and Duluth. I can't wai to show him this and see if he remembers anything like it.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:30 AM on February 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

Fortress of Solitude (Under Construction).
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 6:42 AM on February 20, 2016 [16 favorites]

I grew up in Duluth, and yeah, this is very Duluth.
posted by GameDesignerBen at 6:58 AM on February 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

I love ice breakups. The major river near me once threw up six or so inch thick chunks (by several feet wide & long) that lasted for nearly a month in the spring. These thin layers of ice sheets are amazing . . . and strangely make have me craving baklava . . .
posted by carrioncomfort at 7:16 AM on February 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

Awesome.
I saw a picture of a frozen fountain the other day. Is there any video of a running fountain freezing in real time?
posted by pravit at 7:32 AM on February 20, 2016

I've never seen anything like this before. Just amazing. And I am especially grateful to the photographer for leaving in the natural sounds instead of layering some music on top.
posted by maudlin at 7:51 AM on February 20, 2016 [21 favorites]

This is how ice causes floods.

Do you want floods? Because this is how you get floods.
posted by maryr at 7:54 AM on February 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

Neat.

This came up in related videos: Lake Superior ice balls
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:19 AM on February 20, 2016 [3 favorites]

Those ice balls are weird. They're kind of awkward and lumpy and there's nothing graceful about them at all. On the other hand, they do look happy bouncing and bobbing and bumping into each other.

Totally different vibe than the stacking. Stacking's where it's at for me.
posted by ezust at 8:28 AM on February 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

My parents have a place near a lake in the mountains. I remember one year we were up there in the spring when the ice started breaking up. It was kind of like this, with some ice stacking at the shore, but what was really interesting was what was happening further out, where the ice that was starting to move in the current was grinding up against the more stationary ice sheets. The noise was amazing.
posted by nubs at 8:29 AM on February 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

Nope. Too cold, thank you.

Not sure which is stranger, sheets or bouncing balls. Different vibes, indeed. I wonder how thick those ice plates are?

Nature is amazing, and I love to see these things, but youtube gets thumbs up for keeping me warm.
posted by BlueHorse at 8:41 AM on February 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

He puzzled, "What are these alien and disturbing phenomena on my screen?" sitting outside in his shorts and flip flops on a Texas winter's day.
posted by jim in austin at 8:49 AM on February 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

I liked the brief blue sky reflected. Elegant, eloquent, nature.
posted by Oyéah at 8:50 AM on February 20, 2016

Do you want floods? Because this is how you get floods.

What about when the ice IS the flood?
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:56 AM on February 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

Ice balls on shore leave.
posted by jamjam at 9:03 AM on February 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

That particular ice stacking happened because of a *very* quick and very cold snap, which was only able to freeze a very thin sheet on the water, because the winter's been generally warm this year around the lakes. Normally, you'd see the cloudy-white ice because of snowfall on the ice, but this ice froze up basically over one very clear, very cold day and night, then winds forced that sheet of ice onto the shore.

The Great Lakes see this big ice-stacking because the surface area is so large. On Lake Michigan, it tends to be on the Michigan shore and minor, but if a really strong northerly wind hits, you can see very dramatic ice stacking and ice shelfs in Indiana.
posted by eriko at 9:29 AM on February 20, 2016

/humanfont starts watching video
(loop)
[hours later]
Not sure if ASMR or discovered mild form of the Entertainment.
posted by humanfont at 11:11 AM on February 20, 2016

Superior is the Radiohead of lakes: cold, intense, beautiful.
posted by gottabefunky at 11:24 AM on February 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

Previously.
posted by Bruce H. at 12:29 PM on February 20, 2016

BlueHorse: I wonder how thick those ice plates are?

When I lived in Duluth, the ones I saw were maybe 1"–3" thick as I remember. Never got to see them building up like this, only the aftermath. They make a wonderfully resonant tonk when you tap them.
posted by traveler_ at 1:12 PM on February 20, 2016 [2 favorites]

The ice must floe
posted by Miss Otis' Egrets at 1:34 PM on February 20, 2016 [5 favorites]

I've seen this before, but on much smaller lakes with much smaller pieces of ice. Very cool!
posted by persona au gratin at 3:27 PM on February 20, 2016

The breakup of lake ice (specially the stuff that's really thick) makes some of the *wildest, craziest* sounds ... roars, snaps, creaks, squeaks, bangs ... A great subject for someone with a microphone (windscreen recommended) and warm-enough clothes.

I once lived near a shallow lake about a quarter-mile wide, so insulated from winds that many winters the surface froze clear as a windowpane. You could walk across it (safely if several inches thick) and look down to see swimming fish and other lakelife. Crazy sensation.
posted by Twang at 3:37 PM on February 20, 2016 [3 favorites]

That was incredibly beautiful. Gave me chills!
posted by sammyo at 5:50 AM on February 21, 2016