Ice Finger. Finger of death in Antarctica. How are underwater ice stalactites formed?
This could only be imagined in a horror movie ... but, no - it was created by nature itself.
Amazing and mysterious processes sometimes occur at the bottom of the seas, one of them is the formation of ice "stalactites", scientists call them "brinicles" ("icicle from ocean water" in English), and those who saw this phenomenon with their own eyes, called it "the ice finger of death."
The "icy finger of death" can be observed in the polar winter, it probably appears due to temperature changes: the air temperature drops below -18 degrees. C, and the water temperature remains relatively high - about -2 degrees. WITH.
The process goes like this: sea water rises, is cooled by icy air and rushes down in jets, simultaneously cooling and freezing warmer water. The water of this jet has a much higher density than all the other ocean water surrounding it, and besides, the temperature of this jet is much lower, it is colder than ice, literally. How this is possible scientists cannot explain. Previously, no one met with a similar phenomenon and did not even guess about the possibility of such a presence!
The rate of formation of brinicles is about 30 cm per hour. Often, having reached the bottom, the "ice stalactite" continues to grow, which ends rather badly for the inhabitants of the seabed. All ocean animals (starfish and other ocean organisms) fall into this ice trap over and over again. This phenomenon has been known since the 70s of the twentieth century, but only three years ago a video was made.
This phenomenon was first described in detail in 1974 by the oceanographer Silje Martin ( Seelye Martin. Currently, a group of researchers from Spain has published a study of the composition and structure of brinicles, proposing a model for the mechanism of their formation. When salty ocean water freezes, it releases salt to form fresh ice. This excess salt saturates the water that remains on the surface of the ice and in cavities in the ice sheet.
The result is ice reservoirs containing a high-density over-salted solution with a very low freezing point: with increasing salinity, this temperature decreases. If the ice cracks, this dense, heavy and extremely cold liquid begins to sink to the bottom in the form of such a deadly stream, freezing all living things in its path. This mass death of starfish caught in the path of the brinicle greatly impressed the Air Force film crew, who captured this phenomenon on video for the first time in history.
Filmed by submarine operators Hugh Miller and Doug Anderson, the brinicle hit the bottom in three and a half hours. This is the first video that gives a complete picture of the amazing natural phenomenon that occurs in the cold waters of the world's oceans.
Near the volcanic island of Ross, where the BBC's underwater cameras were located, the cameramen were able to find and film 4 ice stalactites that are created at a very high speed and really freeze the blood in the veins of those who observe this phenomenon.
Biologists led by Bruno Estebano argue that life on Earth could well have originated in the polar seas in "icicles of death" (underwater structures).
"Icicles of death" are underwater stalactites. They got this name due to the fact that, forming at the bottom in places where impurities get into the water (these icicles are the center of crystallization), on their way they kill starfish and sea urchins.
Biological studies have shown that the ice in the "icicles of death" is much more porous than in ice floes, and it brings salt to the surface of the sea.
Scientists do not exclude that these same icicles in the past could be something like a "chemical garden" (organic molecules grew in it), be the center of life formation. Brinicles could also play the role of hydrothermal vents used in classical theories of the origin of life.
Chemistry students are familiar with a popular illustrative experiment called the “colloidal garden,” when certain metal salts are added to a concentrated salt solution, and a solid precipitate forms, forming slender branching structures similar to alien plants. Such "gardens" also grow in natural conditions, including near hydrothermal springs - the famous black smokers, where jets of hot, mineral-rich water burst out from under the ocean floor under enormous pressure. Scientists believe that deadly brinicles have much in common with these "gardens", despite the fact that the "gardens" of black smokers grow from the bottom up, and brinicles grow from top to bottom.
Moreover, both phenomena are considered key for the first stages of chemical evolution, which preceded the birth of biological life on Earth. Black smokers in recent years have often figured in modern theories of the origin of life. Who knows, maybe brinicles could fit into this model - for example, during the birth of special life forms on planets covered in ice?
The finger of death is a natural phenomenon in Arctic waters. It resembles an ice icicle that grows in size and turns into a frozen stream as soon as the clot of ice reaches the bottom. In the scientific community, the phenomenon is known under the name "brinicle".
Brinicle characteristics
The finger of death in Antarctica can be seen in winter. The reason is the temperature difference between water and air. When the atmosphere cools down to -18 degrees, the water temperature stays at -2 degrees.
Sea water rises from the under-ice layer upwards, where it is cooled by frosty air, after which it sinks to the bottom and freezes the warm jets of water encountered on the way. The cooled layer freezes and becomes covered with a crust of ice - salt is displaced from it. Then, under the formed ice layer, a layer of high-density salt water is formed.
Further, the supercooled brine moves to the bottom, following the laws of physics. The water with which it comes into contact cools down to -18-20 degrees, freezes and crystallizes. In the process of crystallization, a fragile porous tube is formed - a finger.
Brinicles grow at a rate of 30 cm per hour. The process does not end when the ice stalactites reach the bottom.
The density of the cold jet is several times higher than that of the surrounding oceanic waters, and it is colder than ice itself. The inhabitants of the ocean depths, falling into its trap, die.
Previously, the phenomenon was not found in nature, so scientists in different countries are thoroughly studying it.
First information
Oceanographer Silje Martin was the first to describe the icy finger of death in 1974. He compared it to hollow tubes, visually reminiscent of icicles, and shared his assumptions about the formation mechanism.
Later, a research group from Spain proposed their own model for the formation of ice stalactites. Their story about the mass freezing of starfish in a critically cold liquid stream impressed the Air Force. In 2011, the film crew of this channel was the first to go to Antarctica, where they were the first to film the icy finger of death.
Video plot
Submarine operators Doug Anderson and Hugh Miller set up video cameras near the volcanic Ross Island. The technique captured how 4 brinicles increased in size. The growth was so fast that after 3.5 hours the ice stalactites touched the bottom.
The video of the finger of death showed a complete and objective picture of the natural phenomenon. Brinicle was named after the English words "brine" and "icicle", which literally translates as "icicle from ocean water." The term is applied as the name of a salty and dense column of ocean water, which is colder than ice.
In the story of the Air Force team, you can see how the column begins to move from the surface of the ocean to the bottom, turning into ice everything that gets in its way, including living organisms. The spectacle is fantastic.
Origin of life
Spanish scientists from the University of Granada are studying in detail the structure of brinicles and their chemical features. They are convinced that the underwater finger of death, which kills marine life, is also the source of life.
This version is supported by the fact that membranes, chemical gradients, electric potential and other conditions characteristic of ice stalactites are also found in the natural environment. One such environment is hydrothermal vents. Structures found near springs differ from oceanic structures in that they grow upwards.
This phenomenon occurs in arctic under-ice waters due to different freezing temperatures of water with different salinity. Outwardly, it looks like an unexpected growth of an icicle, which, having reached the bottom, turns into an icy stream. Marine animals that meet a brinicle on their way quickly become covered with a crust of ice and freeze.
The idea of the existence of a brinicle was first put forward in 1974, but it was not until 2011 that it was proven. The BBC cameramen accidentally filmed the phenomenon, and this is the only video footage of the brinicle to date.
The new English term "brinicle" from "brine" (ocean water) and "icicle" (icicle) refers to a column of water in the ocean, saltier and denser than the surrounding water, and very cold - colder than ice.
This ice column slowly descends from the surface of the ocean to the very bottom (here it is the Southern Ocean) and freezes everything in its path, including the inhabitants of the ocean floor.
Cameramen Hugh Miller and Doug Anderson discovered a previously unknown phenomenon during their presence in Antarctica. Above the surface of the ocean, cameramen found ice stalactites that burn through the depths of the ocean in the form of a jet of extremely cold (almost frozen) and very salty water. The scientists named this phenomenon “brinicles”, and the operators who observed it dubbed this phenomenon “the ice finger of death”.
The water of this jet has a much higher density than all the other ocean water surrounding it, and besides, the temperature of this jet is much lower, it is colder than ice, literally. How this is possible scientists cannot explain. Previously, no one met with a similar phenomenon and did not even guess about the possibility of such a presence!
It seems that this "Ice Finger of Death" kills everything that it touches, turning everything into ice. This can be clearly seen in the extraordinary video provided by the BBC. This chilling rapid flow of salt water, like a stormy intra-ocean river, rushes from the surface to the very depths of the ocean and sweeps away everything in its path. All ocean animals (starfish and other ocean organisms) fall into this ice trap over and over again.
Near the volcanic island of Ross, where the BBC's underwater cameras were located, the cameramen were able to find and film 4 ice stalactites that are created at a very high speed and really freeze the blood in the veins of those who observe this phenomenon.
"Icicles of death" are underwater stalactites. They got this name due to the fact that, forming at the bottom in places where impurities get into the water (these icicles are the center of crystallization), on their way they kill starfish and sea urchins.
Biological studies have shown that the ice in the "icicles of death" is much more porous than in ice floes, and it brings salt to the surface of the sea.
Scientists do not exclude that these same icicles (another name is brinicles) in the past could be something like a “chemical garden” (organic molecules grew in it), be the center of life formation.
Brainikiles could also play the role of hydrothermal vents used in classical theories of the origin of life.
This phenomenon was first described in detail in 1974 by the oceanographer Seelye Martin. Currently, a group of researchers from Spain has published a study of the composition and structure of brinicles, proposing a model for the mechanism of their formation. When salty ocean water freezes, it releases salt to form fresh ice. This excess salt saturates the water that remains on the surface of the ice and in cavities in the ice sheet.
The result is ice reservoirs containing a high-density over-salted solution with a very low freezing point: with increasing salinity, this temperature decreases. If the ice cracks, this dense, heavy and extremely cold liquid begins to sink to the bottom in the form of such a deadly stream, freezing all living things in its path. This mass death of starfish in the path of the brinicle impressed the Air Force film crew very much.
Chemistry students are familiar with a popular illustrative experiment called the “colloidal garden,” when certain metal salts are added to a concentrated salt solution, and a solid precipitate forms, forming slender branching structures similar to alien plants. Such "gardens" also grow in natural conditions, including near hydrothermal springs - the famous black smokers, where jets of hot, mineral-rich water burst out from under the ocean floor under enormous pressure. Scientists believe that deadly brinicles have much in common with these "gardens", despite the fact that the "gardens" of black smokers grow from the bottom up, and brinicles grow from top to bottom.
Moreover, both phenomena are considered key for the first stages of chemical evolution, which preceded the birth of biological life on Earth. Black smokers in recent years have often figured in modern theories of the origin of life. Who knows, maybe brinicles could fit into this model - for example, during the birth of special life forms on planets covered in ice?
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This phenomenon occurs in arctic under-ice waters due to different freezing temperatures of water with different salinity. Outwardly, it looks like an unexpected growth of an icicle, which, having reached the bottom, turns into an icy stream. Marine animals that meet a brinicle on their way quickly become covered with a crust of ice and freeze.
The idea of the existence of a brinicle was first put forward in 1974, but it was not until 2011 that it was proven. The BBC cameramen accidentally filmed the phenomenon, and this is the only video footage of the brinicle to date.
Full video below...
The new English term "brinicle" from "brine" (ocean water) and "icicle" (icicle) refers to a column of water in the ocean, saltier and denser than the surrounding water, and very cold - colder than ice.
This ice column slowly descends from the surface of the ocean to the very bottom (here it is the Southern Ocean) and freezes everything in its path, including the inhabitants of the ocean floor.
Cameramen Hugh Miller and Doug Anderson discovered a previously unknown phenomenon during their presence in Antarctica. Above the surface of the ocean, cameramen found ice stalactites that burn through the depths of the ocean in the form of a jet of extremely cold (almost frozen) and very salty water. The scientists named this phenomenon “brinicles”, and the operators who observed it dubbed this phenomenon “the ice finger of death”.
The water of this jet has a much higher density than all the other ocean water surrounding it, and besides, the temperature of this jet is much lower, it is colder than ice, literally. How this is possible scientists cannot explain. Previously, no one met with a similar phenomenon and did not even guess about the possibility of such a presence!
It seems that this "Ice Finger of Death" kills everything that it touches, turning everything into ice. This can be clearly seen in the extraordinary video provided by the BBC. This chilling rapid flow of salt water, like a stormy intra-ocean river, rushes from the surface to the very depths of the ocean and sweeps away everything in its path. All ocean animals (starfish and other ocean organisms) fall into this ice trap over and over again.
Near the volcanic island of Ross, where the BBC's underwater cameras were located, the cameramen were able to find and film 4 ice stalactites that are created at a very high speed and really freeze the blood in the veins of those who observe this phenomenon.
"Icicles of death" are underwater stalactites. They got this name due to the fact that, forming at the bottom in places where impurities get into the water (these icicles are the center of crystallization), on their way they kill starfish and sea urchins.
Biological studies have shown that the ice in the "icicles of death" is much more porous than in ice floes, and it brings salt to the surface of the sea.
Scientists do not exclude that these same icicles (another name is brinicles) in the past could be something like a “chemical garden” (organic molecules grew in it), be the center of life formation.
Brainikiles could also play the role of hydrothermal vents used in classical theories of the origin of life.
This phenomenon was first described in detail in 1974 by the oceanographer Silje Martin ( Seelye Martin. Currently, a group of researchers from Spain has published a study of the composition and structure of brinicles, proposing a model for the mechanism of their formation. When salty ocean water freezes, it releases salt to form fresh ice. This excess salt saturates the water that remains on the surface of the ice and in cavities in the ice sheet.
The result is ice reservoirs containing a high-density over-salted solution with a very low freezing point: with increasing salinity, this temperature decreases. If the ice cracks, this dense, heavy and extremely cold liquid begins to sink to the bottom in the form of such a deadly stream, freezing all living things in its path. This mass death of starfish in the path of the brinicle impressed the Air Force film crew very much.
Chemistry students are familiar with a popular illustrative experiment called the “colloidal garden,” when certain metal salts are added to a concentrated salt solution, and a solid precipitate forms, forming slender branching structures similar to alien plants. Such "gardens" also grow in natural conditions, including near hydrothermal springs - the famous black smokers, where jets of hot, mineral-rich water burst out from under the ocean floor under enormous pressure. Scientists believe that deadly brinicles have much in common with these "gardens", despite the fact that the "gardens" of black smokers grow from the bottom up, and brinicles grow from top to bottom.
Moreover, both phenomena are considered key for the first stages of chemical evolution that preceded the birth of biological life on Earth. Black smokers in recent years have often figured in modern theories of the origin of life. Who knows, maybe brinicles could fit into this model - for example, during the birth of special life forms on planets covered in ice?
Among the unusual phenomena, I would remind you what it is, and if you remember about snow and ice:
Brinicle or ice stalactite, the word comes from the English brine icicle, translated as sea icicle.
This is an amazing, but by no means rare, natural phenomenon that originates in the subglacial waters of the oceans.
The first scattered evidence of the existence of ice stalactites, dated 1962, was confirmed in the work of the oceanographer Seelye Martin, who in 1974 described the generally accepted model for their formation.
For more than 30 years, only scientists could observe this brightest oceanic performance, until in 2011 the process of formation of sea icicles was filmed.
The film crew of the BBC company managed to do this. Their cameras, installed underwater, recorded the birth of a huge icicle, which is called an ice stalactite or brinicle. The formation of this natural phenomenon is easily explained by science.
Salty sea water freezes in a completely different way than fresh water. It does not turn into a solid dense block of ice, but more like a wet foam rubber sponge. Therefore, icebergs in the Arctic are riddled with numerous small channels that contain saline. The air temperature on the surface can be up to -20 degrees, and the water temperature never drops below -2 degrees.
Obeying the laws of physics, the heat from the water rises and melts the iceberg, forming new ice. Salt from this ice is concentrated into a saturated saline solution, squeezed out through small channels and into the ocean. The density of the resulting solution is much higher and the temperature is lower than the density and temperature of the surrounding water. It rushes to the ocean floor in a continuous stream, freezing the sea water around it. As a result, in just a few hours, a thin ice pipe envelops the flow of salt solution, forming something similar to a stalactite.
Unlike an ordinary icicle, an ice stalactite does not "stop" in the water, but continues to grow towards the bottom. Having reached it, it spreads further, forming a kind of network that freezes all life in its path. Of course, large fish and mammals do not fall into them, but for small animals of the ocean floor, an ice stalactite is a dangerous natural phenomenon. For example, small starfish, urchins swimming past it are instantly covered with an ice crust and will never be able to get out.
In front of the members of the film crew, the "icicle of death" sprouted to the very bottom in 3 hours and in just 15 minutes destroyed all marine life within a radius of 3.5 meters.
Because of this "killing" power, the BBC camera team, led by Hugh Miller, dubbed the brinicle the "icy finger of death." The shooting was carried out off the coast of Ross Island and, as Mr. Miller said in his interview, they had to work hard so that the audience could then watch this unusual natural phenomenon in the video.
Mr. Miller said in his interview that the sea icicle grew literally before his eyes. “It was just an incredible sight! Hugh Miller said. - Descending flows of salt water from the surface froze sea water, thereby forming a bizarre-looking icicle, which reached the bottom in a few hours and spread an ice network that became a death trap for all living creatures within a radius of 3.5 meters. I was simply amazed when I saw the process of formation of an underwater ice stalactite with my own eyes and only then realized why many oceanographers call it a local ice age.
