Brinicle
A brinicle is a column of ice that forms in seawater.[1] The name is a combination of the words "brine", which means saltwater, and "icicle".[2] A brinicle starts forming from the top of the water down.[3] A brinicle freezes everything in its way as it forms.[3] It can reach the bottom of the ocean, where it can also form ice on the seabed.[4] It is dangerous to sea stars and sea urchins living on the bottom of the ocean.[4] They move too slowly to get out of the way.[4] They are very rare and only occur in places where it is very cold, such as Antarctica.[5][6]
References
- ↑ Douglas Main. How Eerie Sea Ice 'Brinicles' Form (April 26, 2013)LiveScience. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
- ↑ brinicle. Oxford DictionariesOxford University Press. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 This Might Be The Most Bizarre Underwater Phenomena You Will Ever See. The Ice Finger Of Death!Unique Facts. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Becky Evans. 'Icicles of death' discovered deep in polar oceans could hold clues to the origins of first life on Earth (25 April 2013)Daily Mail. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
- ↑ Jeffrey Marlow. Swimming Beneath the Brinicles, in Antarctica. Wired (May 7, 2013)Condé Nast. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
- ↑ Gómez-Lozada, Felipe. Modelling and simulation of brinicle formation (in en). Royal Society Open Science 10 (10) (2023-10). doi:10.1098/rsos.230268.
