It is as beautiful as it is rare. One of the strangest and most unusual formations of frost that can be found in the world are certainly the vaporous "frost flowers", also called "frost feathers", "castles of frost" or "crystallofolia", which seems almost carved by elves.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
It is as beautiful as it is rare. One of the strangest and most unusual frost formations that can be found in the world are certainly the vaporous ones "Frost flowers", also called "feathers of frost", "castles of frost" or "crystallofolia", which seems almost carved by elves.
But these are decidedly improper terms: while the frost, in fact, is created by water vapor, frost flowers are formed from liquid water. Incredibly delicate, so much so that they disappear if touched or as soon as the sun rises in the sky, they appear as one small ball of cotton candy, a few centimeters in diameter, made up of groups of thin curved frost filaments.
Not much has been written about this unusual phenomenon, but it seems that filaments are born in very special conditions: only in autumn or early winter mornings, when the frost is pushed out of plant stems or wood in extremely thin layers. Extrusion creates these beautiful shapes, which curl and fold in frozen petioles and beautiful "flowers", which give this phenomenon both its name and appearance.
When the temperature reaches zero, or less, the sap in the stem of plants expands. The increasing pressure on the outer layer of the stem results in microscopically fine cracks, a kind of linear cracks. The water travels to the outer stem, reaches the crack and freezes. As new water reaches the cracks and it too freezes, it pushes the previous ice formation away from the stem. In this way i amazing 'petals' you see in these images.
Roberta Ragni
Source and Photos
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