Ice

hide

Ice is a solid phase, usually crystalline, of a non-metallic substance that is liquid or gas at room temperature, such as carbon dioxide ice (dry ice), ammonia ice, or methane ice. However, the predominant use of the term ice is for water ice, technically restricted to one of the 15 known crystalline phases of water. In non-scientific contexts, the term usually means ice Ih, which is known to be the most abundant of these solid phases. It can appear transparent or opaque bluish-white colour, depending on the presence of impurities or air inclusions. The addition of other materials such as soil may further alter the appearance.

The most common phase transition to ice Ih occurs when liquid water is cooled below 0°C (273.15K, 32°F) at standard atmospheric pressure. It can also deposit from vapour with no intervening liquid phase, such as in the formation of frost.

Ice appears in nature in forms as varied as snowflakes, hail, icicles, glaciers, pack ice, and entire polar ice caps. It is an important component of the global climate, and plays an important role of the water cycle. Furthermore, ice has numerous cultural applications, from ice cooling of drinks to winter sports and the art of (ice sculpting).

The word is derived from Old English ís, which in turn stems from Proto-Germanic *isaz.

For more information about Ice, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with ice

results timeline


Absence of evidence for a meteorite impact event 13,000 years ago

Absence of evidence for a meteorite impact event 13,000 years ago

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (15) | comments 11

An international team of scientists led by researchers at the University of Hawaii at Manoa have found no evidence supporting an extraterrestrial impact event at the onset of the Younger Dryas ~13000 years ...


Map - France - UK

'Super-river' formed the English Channel

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (17) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of Anglo-French scientists studying sedimentary deposits in the Bay of Biscay have concluded that Britain and France were separated by a "super-river" during three periods of glaciations, ...


Supervolcano eruption -- in Sumatra -- deforested India 73,000 years ago

Supervolcano eruption -- in Sumatra -- deforested India 73,000 years ago

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (17) | comments 3

A new study provides "incontrovertible evidence" that the volcanic super-eruption of Toba on the island of Sumatra about 73,000 years ago deforested much of central India, some 3,000 miles from the epicenter, ...


After mastodons and mammoths, a transformed landscape

After mastodons and mammoths, a transformed landscape

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (12) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Roughly 15,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age, North America's vast assemblage of large animals -- including such iconic creatures as mammoths, mastodons, camels, horses, ground ...


Mysteriously warm times in Antarctica

Mysteriously warm times in Antarctica

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (26) | comments 31

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study of Antarctica's past climate reveals that temperatures during the warm periods between ice ages (interglacials) may have been higher than previously thought. The latest analysis ...


Past regional cold and warm periods linked to natural climate drivers

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 26, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (19) | comments 31

Intervals of regional warmth and cold in the past are linked to the El Niño phenomenon and the so-called "North Atlantic Oscillation" in the Northern hemisphere's jet stream, according to a team of climate scientists. These ...


From Greenhouse to Icehouse

From Greenhouse to Icehouse

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 24, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (12) | comments 9

A new study that reconstructed ocean temperatures from millions of years ago could provide new insight into how the Earth responds to climate change.


Freezing: a phenomenon that 'jumps'

Freezing: a phenomenon that 'jumps'

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- The freezing of suspensions of particles is not always a uniform phenomenon; in certain conditions it leads to a modification of the redistribution of particles and the growth of crystals.


Greenland ice cap melting faster than ever

Greenland ice cap melting faster than ever

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 12, 2009 | popularity 3.6 / 5 (32) | comments 25

Satellite observations and a state-of-the art regional atmospheric model have independently confirmed that the Greenland ice sheet is loosing mass at an accelerating rate, reports a new study in Science.


Cave study links climate change to California droughts

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (6) | comments 0

California experienced centuries-long droughts in the past 20,000 years that coincided with the thawing of ice caps in the Arctic, according to a new study by UC Davis doctoral student Jessica Oster and geology professor ...


Antarctica glacier retreat creates new carbon dioxide store

Antarctica glacier retreat creates new carbon dioxide store

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity 3.4 / 5 (8) | comments 0

Large blooms of tiny marine plants called phytoplankton are flourishing in areas of open water left exposed by the recent and rapid melting of ice shelves and glaciers around the Antarctic Peninsula. This ...


Sea Level Is Rising Along U.S. Atlantic Coast, According to New Data Analysis

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (13) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- An international team of environmental scientists led by the University of Pennsylvania has shown that sea-level rise along the Atlantic Coast of the United States was 2 millimeters faster in the 20th century ...


Strong regional climatic fluctuations in the tropics

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Climatic fluctuations close to the equator show a different pattern to climate change in the Arctic and Antarctic. In the tropics distinct 11500 year fluctuations between wet and dry periods can be clearly identified which ...


First comprehensive review of the state of Antarctica's climate

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (11) | comments 3

The first comprehensive review of the state of Antarctica's climate and its relationship to the global climate system is published this week by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). The review - Antarctic ...


Winds drive icebergs away from New Zealand

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(AP) -- Strong westerly winds in the southern Pacific Ocean have driven scores of icebergs originally headed toward New Zealand to the east, away from the country, an oceanographer said Tuesday.