The Stunning Process of Ice Stacking Upon Itself Along the Shore as Warmer Water Passes Through

Photographer Dawn LaPointe of Radiant Spirit Gallery captured incredible video showing the absolutely stunning natural phenomenon of ice stacking along the shores of Lake Superior in Brighton Beach, Minnesota. During this process, sheets of ice covering the lake were pushed to the side as warmer water passed through. Once ashore, the ice began to melt, break like glass and the pieces stacked themselves upon each other in the winter sunshine.

The seemingly endless ice sheets broke into large plates and stacked on shore, sounding much like breaking glass. The ice thickness ranged from about 1/4″ to about 3″ thick. The sights and sounds were incredible! As the water became exposed, the sea smoke was whisked across the surface by the breeze. The sparkles visible in some segments were from the sun gilding the frost flowers that had formed on top of the new ice overnight — icing on the cake! I am in awe of and mesmerized by ice stacking (and waves), and spent hours immersed in the sights and sounds of one of my favorite winter occurrences, despite the subzero temperatures and frigid breeze. …This video is being shown at normal speed. For those who have not witnessed an event like this in person, it may look as if the video is sped up. Some ice stacking events move more slowly, especially when the wind is weaker or intermittent. The large sheets of ice shown in this video had pretty good momentum from sustained winds, but at one point the ice came to a groaning halt and the silence seemed almost deafening; it was a little eerie.