The very finest lacustrine spheres

March 10, 2024 8:52 PM

Waves are nature's ball-builders, working in various media including ice, algae, grass, and needles.
posted by a feather in amber (2 comments total)

As I confessed in the recent Ottawa County politics thread, I have family back in West Michigan. I often visit them for winter holidays, during which I have had a couple of opportunities to observe ice balls akin to the ones from the first link (except when I have seen them they have been smaller, much more numerous, and generally being churned in large numbers in the swell near the shore.) They are indeed pretty interesting!

I dug through some old e-mail to see if I had any good pics. You can see some smaller ones in the process of forming in these photos.

(bonus: There are lots of interesting ice formations along the Big Lake when the weather is right, but the post is about balls so I've separated out a couple of others I came across while searching my sent mail for ice photos, ones that don't fit the topic but still might be of interest.)
posted by Nerd of the North at 11:17 PM on March 10 [3 favorites]

So cool! I will need to seek more images of these fabulous spheres.

Some random riffing on this topic:

Swimming in waves generally expands me and stretches me out rather than balling me up. I assume this has to do with proprioception and how balance works in water.

Andy Goldsworthy's work comes to mind - balls sculpted from ice, snow, whale bones, bracken, grass, and other wonders.

My dabbles in various kinds of glassworking also come to mind - glass loves to be round, and other shapes require more sweat and skill.

An orb is such a pleasing shape! Thanks for this delightful post.
posted by cnidaria at 8:29 AM on March 11 [1 favorite]