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Environment

Natural "Creek Circle" Spotted in Mississauga

Posted by Jerrold Litwinenko / December 18, 2008

24 Comments

creek circleWhile the crop circle "phenomenon" has more or less faded into distant memory, every now and then something occurs in nature that wows us in similar ways.

Mississauga photographer Brook Tyler was out walking a few days ago, and stumbled upon this amazing natural "creek circle" forming on the surface of the water. Presumably, serendipitous conditions of the flow of water and freezing temperatures were responsible for the formation of the floating, rotating disk of ice.

With about 150,000 views and counting (due to being Dugg), it seems that people are impressed by what amounts to a marvel in thermo- and fluid- dynamics.

20081218_iceedgedleaf.jpg

Be sure to check out the many other lovely nature images in Brook's Flickr page. I'm particularly fond of the icy red oak leaf, pictured above.

UPDATE: Rob Roberts at Posted Toronto has written an excellent, in-depth report on this creek circle, including words from the photographer, and from a river specialist who describes the phenomenon.

UPDATE: Check it out - in motion! Thanks for the video, keelypup.

Discussion

24 Comments

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sippy / December 18, 2008 at 11:36 am
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It's obviously the work of alien overlord, Xenu. Somebody alert CP24 so Cam Wooly can do a safety demonstration and cannonball right in the middle of it.
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i / December 18, 2008 at 12:56 pm
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Tonight on CityPulse...are deadly discs of ice a threat to the community?! Shocking footage after the break!
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somechick / December 18, 2008 at 02:52 pm
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the ice fairies made it :)
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person / December 18, 2008 at 03:41 pm
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It's only an old tire
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kstop / December 18, 2008 at 04:22 pm
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Also spotted in the vicinity: a bald hunter encased in an ice cube and a cross-dressing wabbit with a snorkel and a saw.
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oterry / December 18, 2008 at 05:11 pm
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Check out the links being posted on the digg site. Seems this beautiful ice shape is not an uncommon occurance (I don't think it's a tire, though). If you look carefully at the photo you can see that the ice is turning.
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Zuzu / December 18, 2008 at 08:03 pm
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There is no doubt in my mind that somechick is right and it is ice fairies! Duh.
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Miguel / December 18, 2008 at 08:51 pm
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That's pretty sweet! ha ha.
I like the 'old tire' theory. Although it's not as fun as the ice fairies...
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keelypup / December 20, 2008 at 11:11 am
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Posted a video of the spinning creek circle on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JoGXbP0bVg
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laurasmom / December 21, 2008 at 10:31 am
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It looks like a hula hoop to me. In the video, the only thing moving is the circle. If this is a creek, it should be flowing.
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Personne replying to a comment from laurasmom / December 21, 2008 at 03:08 pm
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Water current makes a human made cut ice circle spin
Anyway, it is cool and beautiful.

The toughest part, is to cut a perfect circle in the ice

Good job guys, but definitely not natural
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LOL replying to a comment from laurasmom / December 21, 2008 at 03:17 pm
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THE LAKES FROZEN THATS WHY ITS NOT FLOWING laurasmom!!!
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David replying to a comment from Personne / December 21, 2008 at 06:31 pm
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It's simply the interaction between fluid dynamics (the flowing water in the river - beneath the ice) and solid dynamics (the growing ice) in a falling temperature zone. It is circular because the lumpy bits get worn off. Perfectly natural.
David
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David replying to a comment from LOL / December 21, 2008 at 06:35 pm
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For you city types who have obviously never seen a creek, unless it is REALLY cold and everything freezes, the water continuous to flow under the ice.
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diggidiedogdarn / December 21, 2008 at 08:18 pm
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Obviously photoshopped ;)
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james / December 23, 2008 at 04:02 pm
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its a whirlpool?
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Simon Kenton / December 23, 2008 at 04:56 pm
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I've seen one on Brush Creek near Vernal Utah in '72. A slab of ice of any shape gets centered on the line between an eddy and the main current jet. It rotates, and as David says above, simultaneously works against the projections on plate ice near the shore and in the ice covering the jet, while being worked by them, until it is made circular and has circularized recesses around itself. If this is to be thought surprising, commenters should be exclaiming in amazement that celestial bodies above a certain mass and plasticity are spherical.
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Jack Johnson / December 23, 2008 at 10:08 pm
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Fake.
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Jack Idiot / December 24, 2008 at 08:49 am
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Not fake idiot!

http://www.mississauga.com/article/22311
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Mike Schneider / December 25, 2008 at 03:36 am
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These are easily explained: There is a current eddy at that spot. As the creek freezes, ice builds from the shore, and from the calm water at the center of the eddy. The ice circle is perfectly round due to frictional abrasion at the edges. Heat generated by friction keeps the joint from freezing in temperatures marginally but not severly below freezing, so it keeps spinning.
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Martin Timothy / December 25, 2008 at 04:13 am
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Who says crop circles have faded from memory.
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Red Collie / December 26, 2008 at 03:37 am
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I am glad to see such excellent documentation of an ice circle in Canada, but your introductory comment about "crop circles having faded into distant memory" seems wildly incorrect.
The summer of 2008 was the most active crop circle season in many years, and one of them even drew our attention to an upcoming date of December 23, 2012 when the Mayan Long Count calendar ends (close to Avebury on July 15).
One would have to be either very narrow-minded or else very dim, not to investigate such an amazing paranormal message further. Not one first-hand witness (or skeptic) has even tried to argue that it could have been man-made.
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Dale Ng / December 29, 2008 at 03:38 pm
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Amazing to see a perfect circle of ice in the creek circle. The video of it rotating really shows an unusual phenomenon. We don't see these things in this part of the world I come from.
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josh replying to a comment from person / November 21, 2009 at 10:37 pm
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that would be one big tire
lol
you are funny
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