FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Bob Harman]

I thought I might do something a bit different.

Ice, H2O, crystallized water can be considered a mineral. Glacial ice is often of a bluish tint due to its being extremely compressed. This is different than "ordinary" ice in that the glacial ice has had the air squeezed out of it so the H2O crystals are closer together giving it the bluish color due to play of light thru the ice. Also, blue glacial ice is slightly denser than "ordinary" ice so it floats slightly lower in surrounding water.

This is the terminus of Mendenhall Glacier as seen in May 2011 during my last trip up there. Note the bluish areas and recent retreat of the glacier. BOB

[Josele]

Under certain conditions of humidity and temperature, fog crystallizes forming aggregates on the previous snowed surface, like in these pics: