Pages

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Say What???

Is this an oxymoron?  Is it frosty or is it boiling?  Is someone making snowcrab legs?  Is boiling frost so remarkable we have road signs to alert motorists to investigate the amazing phenomenon?


For our followers, who don't live in the great white north, a frost boil happens in the spring when mud that has been under pressure, underground breaks through the frost in the soil (The earth here freezes solid to a depth of several feet in the winter) and pushes out in mini volcanoes.  O.K., mini-volcanoes may be a tad dramatic--they are more like a pimple or boil on a person's skin.  They are really common on gravel roads but also often break through asphalt.  The road is closed until it's base can be reinforced and repairs undertaken.  Until then gravel is just poured on the ever widening mudpits.  

Even after the frost has left the ground the forces for equilibrium continue to create these prolems.  An additional note for our viewers "down south", in the ditch you can see how long our grass is (and fields still unplanted) on May 19th! 

3 comments:

  1. Very interesting, thanks for sharing.
    Sue

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have never heard of this. INTERESTING!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think it would be more fun to walk or drive on mini-volcanoes than on pimples or boils. :oP

    Peace and Laughter!

    ReplyDelete