Ruts
Like ponds and lakes, the seeds on ruts are mostly twigs or leaves on the water surface, but any bacteria, fungi or dust can also start ice growth.
Ice blades and dendrites that collapsed into a rut once filled with water from which the ice grew. The imaged area was about 70 cm wide.
Rut Ice A: A completely covered rut that grew from the water it covered and included blades and dendrites. As the water evaporated to the ice sheet above, the sheet began to sag of its own weight, causing stress fractures, which are the main contours. Between these contours are dozens of faint concentric contours which may be stress-induced slip patterns or additional sag contours. The imaged area was about 70 cm.
Rut Ice B: A completely covered rut that grew from the water it covered and included blades and dendrites. As the water evaporated to the ice sheet above, the sheet began to sag of its own weight, causing stress fractures, which are the main contours. Along the blades are dozens of faint concentric contours which may be stress-induced slip patterns or additional sag contours. The imaged area was about 70 cm.
Rut Ice C: Sunlit Fractures Within Thin Black Ice. Note the transparent blades on the right side. This image got second place in a local photography exhibit.