Icy Patterns

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Ice Patterns and Frosty Sticks
Ice Patterns and Frost

A few feet from the base of a waterfall feeding the Illinois and Michigan Canal, I discovered some very interesting patterns below the top layer of ice. I'm guessing the action from the canal current and the waterfall produced these patches of white ice mixed with clear. Then a layer of clear ice formed over the top of both. The patterns remind me a bit of a dry lake bottom. I wonder if the ice began to melt, shrink and pull apart, then it froze again, or if the patterns are frozen foam from the waterfall.

However it happened, I found it quite interesting to view at sunrise.