A rare, naturally occurring, nearly perfect disk of ice that rotates slowly within a river, forming where a slow, rotating eddy current in the water shears a circular slab of ice free from the surrounding ice sheet and keeps it spinning in place. The largest documented ice circles have spanned well over a hundred feet across, and their striking geometric regularity has repeatedly drawn public fascination whenever a particularly large or symmetrical example is photographed.
Facts
ScaleCircles more than 15 metres in diameter observed 1 First Described1895 (Mianus River disc reported in Scientific American) 1 Identification
Distinguishing AppearanceThin circular slabs of ice rotating slowly on the water surface 1 Sources
1. Ice disc - Wikipedia
History
One of the earliest recordings is of a slowly revolving disc spotted on the Mianus River and reported in an 1895 edition of Scientific American.
Size
Ice disks occur in slowly moving water in cold climates and can vary in size, with circles more than 15 metres (49 feet) in diameter observed.
Definition
thin circular slabs of ice that rotate slowly on a body of water's surface
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