Inverted Ice

Bill Dembowski

While reading two ice related features in the 2 March 2007 edition of The Citizen Scientist (Gallery and Forrest Mims' World of Science), I was reminded of an odd ice formation that I photographed nearly 20 years ago at one of our local state parks. We all know that icicles typically form with the broadest end at the point of attachment and taper toward the free end. These icicles, however, were just the opposite. The branch to which they were attached was closely overhanging a swift running stream, and I suspect that the spray from the stream caused the buildup on the end of the icicle that was nearest the water, creating the oddly inverted appearance.

This unusual icicle was photographed at the Linn Run State Park in Pennsylvania on 14 January 1989. Photograph by Bill Dembowski.

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