The following pictures and narrative came to us in an e-mail from a viewer in Iowa. I’ve never seen anything like this an;d thought it was a “must share”.
A combination of cold weather and water pressure caused this unusual ice formation near Cresco, IA. at the base of a beaver dam on the Turkey River.
It appears that the foam at the base of this beaver dam plus the water pressure and cold temperatures (4 degrees Saturday morning) caused this iced “foam tower” to form. As the water spilled and flowed over the dam the turbulence created foam (which is common with run-off water in spring time) and with some ice right below the dam the pressure pushed the foam up through a hole which started freezing as the temperature was just 4 above zero. The foam being formed under the ice was also pushed up and started freezing … and little by little the frozen foam just got higher and higher till at the time I saw it, I guess it to be about 6 feet high. The center stayed hollow to allow the foam under pressure to keep going up and freezing as it spilled over the top or through “blow holes” on the sides.
You can see a blow hole at the center of this picture where the foam is bubbling out.
Looking down stream, smaller foam towers beginning to form on the left.
It was amazing to see….a wonder of nature!
Clair Pecinovsky, Cresco, Iowa
Posted under Viewer Pics
This post was written by Randy on February 28, 2013
