This is an extra post to memorialize some thoughts about frozen water. For today's regular blog post, please see:
Denver .
I have had ample opportunity to contemplate frozen water over the last few weeks. It is beautiful and mysterious, but can also be treacherous and deadly.
The chemistry underlying the various forms of water, from frozen to liquid to gaseous seems, at times, more like alchemy than straight chemistry and physics. We are all familiar with solid (frozen) liquid (temperatures between freezing and boiling), and gas (boiling).
Liquid water is now thought to exist in at least two phases, low density and high density. As is amorphous ice. Including the hexagonal arrangement of water molecules found in common ice, known as “ice Ih,” scientists had already discovered at least 18 architectures of ice crystal. After ice I, which comes in two forms, Ih and Ic, the rest are numbered II through XVII in order of their discovery. New forms continue to be discovered, for example
superionic ice , a black and hot form of water that might make up the bulk of giant icy planets
Snowflakes (formally snow crystals) embody both the mystery and science of frozen water. They are the poster child for the idea of “uniqueness” - no two are alike. But is that really true? There appears to be disagreement among qualified scientists. Snowflakes are formed from water vapor that condenses directly into ice inside of clouds. They take shape as water vapor molecules from cloud droplets condense and freeze on the surface of a seed crystal, and patterns emerge as these crystals grow. The seed crystal itself forms on a tiny particle, like a speck of dust in the air, which serves as a base for ice growth. One case for “every snowflake is unique” can be found
here . Another argument is that
only 35 different shapes are possible .
We use descriptors like pristine, magical and ephemeral to describe a virgin snow fall, before it is trampled by footsteps and vehicle tracks. Even before animal tracks leave criss-cross lines. The idea of a winter wonderland has inspired visual art as well as the spoken and written word. The mythology is typified by stories such as
The Snow Queen , by Hans Christian Anderson, famously inspiring the 2013 blockbuster computer-animated musical film,
Frozen .
First Nations peoples who live in the far North have been reported to have
many words for snow - whether it is 50, 100 or 1000, all describe different types of frozen water.
I imagine I will have ample opportunity over at least the next month to continue experiencing and contemplating the mystique and treachery of frozen water.