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Home ›UFO? - Unbelievable Floating Object
This uniformly-round ice formation was found floating in Bear Creek in Allamakee County Monday, January 5 by Kenneth Larson of Dorchester. The floating ice mass was estimated at approximately 20 feet in diameter and was rotating slowly in place as the current of the creek flowed by. Online research indicates that ice circles, such as the one pictured above, are formed when surface ice gathers in the center of a body of water rather than the edges. A slow moving stream current can create a slow turning eddy, or swirling current, which rotates the ice mass and grinds down its edges against the surrounding ice to form the uniformly-round ice circle. Photo courtesy of Kenneth Larson.