Vis Gelu - the Power of Ice

Ice is the strangest substance upon this earth then yet it is seen as insignificant by many. It forms from water-droplets within clouds, flowing rivers and even in oceans where energy is forever in motion. It floats when it should sink; density is transformed from heavy to light even though the chemistry remains unchanged. It falls ever so gracefully in the form of snow then yet wind transforms it into a violent blizzard. Every snowflake differs but its crystallization is aided by particles in the air, either natural or man-made; it is said thunder is created whenever they bombard one another creating bursts of energy transforming a cloud into a bubble of light. Mountains become its home where it fills crevices that adorn jagged peaks. It twists and turns creating a deep bowl-like hollow; a cirque is thus created. Seasons go by and snow continues to fall surviving the short summer thus the snow transforms to firn and néve as pressure increases compacting past layers of fallen snow. Time passes slowly; the snow has now become ice. The mountain is no longer its home for the cirque has been breached – a glacier has formed. The power of gravity exerts itself onto the river of ice making it flow downstream. The steep mountain-sides and once v-shaped valleys become victims of the erosive power of the glacier bed; picking up rocks and boulders of unimaginable size transforming it into sandpaper. As time goes on the mountain scenery changes ever so slowly as the glacier retreats back into the womb of its creation. The valleys become u-shaped, rivers and lakes dominate the scree covered land where plant-life invades the now bare soil; and layers of rock exposed displaying the elements of time. The power of ice may be hidden but its creations are all round us, beautiful and enchanting.