Tasty Sounding Rare Ice Formation Seen on Minnesota River. See Cool Pics!

Make this the winter where I learn about cool new things. Like earlier in December I learned about a Moon Dog, which you can read about here. Add this one now to the list of things, I was today old when I first learned about it. This time it is the ice pancake or ice pan.

Ever heard of ice pancakes before? First off, they sound delicious simply because they have the word pancake in it, but pretty sure you won't want to eat them. Seeing them however, would be cool. In case you are like me and learning about this cool phenomenon, it is defined in the dictionary as:

a grouping of circular, flat pieces of ice with raised rims, formed by the accumulation of frazil and slush on the surface water of seas and large lakes

The Weather Network explains even a little further, stating:

As the temperature gets colder, even the moving waters of the river can't entirely fend off freezing, and frazil clusters start to freeze into larger flat plates, separated by a layer of lingering slush.

If it weren't for the action of the water, these plates would ultimately join together to coat the river's surface. But even as the surface starts to freeze, the water beneath keeps flowing, and our plates get jostled, repeatedly bumping into one another, so they end up with raised slushy rims along their edges. The generally circular shape also comes from the repeated collisions, grinding off all the sharp edge.

What makes me even bring this up you ask? Like anything, I saw it on social media and it got me curious. I grew up just twenty miles north of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota and someone there just shared this the other day.

The picture was too cool to just pass it by and not see what it was all about. I also learned that these form often around Antarctica but aren't always that common around these parts. Also it doesn't seem likely they would be forming in the middle of winter, but hey, here we are regardless!

Lastly, if you get a second to read the very few comments on the reddit post, you will have a good laugh and not be able to un-see what they wrote.