Isn't this just stunning? What you are looking at is a fleeting phenomenon called 'needle ice' - thin needle-like ice crystals that push out of the ground when the conditions are just right. And I was lucky enough to be tromping along in the woods during a brief window when those conditions had manifested!
The irony is that it took a week of rain and clouds and fog to nudge me to get out for a walk in nature to soak up some sunshine, despite the serious chill in the air. A patch of 'sparkle' caught my eye in a muddy area and I scooched down to investigate. What a reward!
Those days of rain and gloom set the stage for these beauties as the ground temperature was still above freezing and the red clay-laden soil was water-logged and compacted, laced with only fine pores or 'capillaries' (tiny straws) of space for water to collect and move through. For ice needles to form the air temperature has to suddenly drop below freezing before the ground cools, thus enabling the water to push up towards the surface via capillary action. The liquid water molecules form solid ice crystals in sequence as they crest the soil surface, and grow into needles as the capillary action continues to push the water to the surface, complete with their muddy top hats! If the ground is frozen, or if the soil is too loosely packed, this kind of water movement can't take place.
Because the air temperature was warming back up quickly these beauties sparkled as they started to melt and caught my attention, but then were gone by the time I circled back on my loop. Rain, mud, sudden freeze - just when you think 'nothing good can come of this' - et voila - nature stuns!
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