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Tue 6 Feb, 2007 11:50 am
I bring fresh water to my barn cat every morning and evening. Yesterday, in the Finger Lakes region of NYS, we had cold evening temperatures. (-0.5)
When I went to feed/water the cat this morning, there was a stalagmite coming up out of the water dish. (mite-from the bottom up, tite-from the top down, right?)
How rare is this?
The dish probably contained 1/2 cup of filtered tap/well water, was probably 3/4 still remaining, and frozen solid with this upside down icicle coming up out of the inside corner of the dish.
Just curious if this is rare or not.
Thanks
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Not rare at all >
http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/icespikes/icespikes.pdf
> but maximum probability for formation of an ice spike is found at temperatures of -7 degrees Centigrade in the presence of air currents, with ice forming from pure water.
Translation: yesterday your barn was cold and drafty, and though you're to be commended on the water quality, do bring the poor animal into the house tonight!
Wow, that sure is cool! Or should I say cold. I agree about bringing the cat in. How does it survive weather that cold?
The cat's a barn cat and mouser. Her fur is amazingly thick, as is her winter pudge. She's got multiple places to snuggle up and stay relatively warm. During the sub-zero hours when I'm home, I do bring her in so she can get a relaxing nap, undisturbed. Often though, she does not want to be in.
When I returned that afternoon, the stalagmite had "melted" to only about 2" above the ice, from about 3"... so it is interesting that it happened.
Thanks for the info and the replies.
Wisconsin is full of barn cats that do quite well through the winter. Not sure how, but they do. And it's not exactly warm here...
There was a good high-school level review on this phenominia a few years ago, examining it both in the lab and on lakes.
From memory I thought is was more common if ice formed on the surface of the water from the edges of container (vase, glass or lake) and travelled its way in. Just before the gap closes you get a fair bit of pressure from the rest of the ice on the water that forces a spike upwards. If it freezes at just the right speed the spike can get prounced - up to about 7cm or 3 inches, which is cool to see under time lapse photography.
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