Story By: Gheorghi Caraseni, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
CEN/Alexander Davidik
This is the moment ice crystals on a river’s surface form unusual shapes known locally as ‘ice lard’ as they flow past a picturesque Russian city.
The incident was filmed by professional photographer Alexander Davidik, 27, on the Volga River in the city of Yaroslavl in the western Russian region of Yaroslavl Oblast.
Davidik filmed aerial footage of the phenomenon as well as close up snaps showing the ice crystals appearing like ‘lard’ on the water surface.
According to local media, the ice formation occurs at certain times of the year under special weather conditions and appears similar to ‘frazil ice’ which is a collection of loose, randomly oriented, plate or discoid ice crystals formed in rapidly cooled moving water.
Davidik filmed the footage on 3rd February and accompanied the clip with the message: “And today recorded this ‘icy lard’ phenomenon, which is a very interesting and unusual substance, much like fabric.”
However, some netizens claimed the formations were not the rare ‘icy lard’, but simply slush from mud and snow. Other commentators suggested they were residue left from an oil spill that flowed along the Volga and stuck to the ice on the river’s surface.
According to local media, ‘icy lard’ occurs when a thick layer of tiny icy crystals form on the water surface and is then blanketed with continuous ice cover.
It usually forms in open-water reaches of rivers where heat differences between the air and water causes the water temperature to drop.
When it occurs at sea, the phenomenon is known as ‘grease ice’, a very thin layer of frazil crystals clumped together which makes the surface resemble an oil slick.
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