These tall cones formed by frozen spray sprout off the shores of Bradford Beach and other shoreline parks most winters, creating alien landscapes. Ice-cano’s, aka cryovolcanoes, form when waves higher than three feet tall slam against shoreline ice shelves, breaking them up and creating blow holes. As additional spray shoots through the spout, the water freezes and builds an impressive cone that can rise up to two stories high, according to a group of researchers at Michigan Technological University who studied cryovolcanoes on Lake Superior. A particularly large specimen on Lake Ontario, near Rochester, N.Y., spotted in 2005, soared to over 20 feet and was informally labeled “The Nostril.”
Schlitz Audubon Center. Photo by Zoe Finney/Schlitz Audubon Center
Explained: Ice Volcanoes
The deets on ice volcanoes.
