Ukrainian polar explorers showed snow “doughnuts” in the Antarctic. PHOTO
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Ukrainian polar explorers from the station “Akademik Vernadskyi” showed rolls of snow, which are also called snow rolls or “doughnuts”.
Such a phenomenon is quite rare even for Antarctica, the National Antarctic Science Center reports.
Polar scientists explain: snow “doughnuts” are multi-layered convolutions of snow, inside of which there is emptiness. They can “grow” from a few centimeters in diameter to over a meter, and look like hay bales in a field.
The following conditions are required for the formation of snow “doughnuts”:
- two different layers of snow: the lower (frozen or covered with an ice crust) is a kind of substrate, the upper (fresh, loose and wet) should cover the lower layer, but not stick to it;
- air temperature is close to the melting point of ice (that is, above 0°C);
- the force of the wind should be such as to move the lumps of snow, but not destroy them.
| Rolls of snow are also called snow rolls or “doughnuts” |
The formation of snow “rolls” usually requires a slope – then they roll more easily.
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| They can “grow” from a few centimeters in diameter to more than a meter |
“The need for the coincidence of all these rather specific conditions is precisely what makes snow scrolls a unique phenomenon that is not often seen.
Since the snow inside the roll has a low density, it easily weathers away, leaving a hole, sometimes the hole is formed immediately during the wrapping of the snow blanket.”– polar explorers explain.
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| A slope is mostly required for the formation of “rolls” of snow |
We will remind you that the first baby penguins hatched near “Vernadskyi” in 2023.
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| Snow “doughnuts” can look like hay bales in a field |
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| ALL PHOTOS: Serhiy Glotov |
Read also: A baby boom continues at “Vernadskyi”: skua pups were born. VIDEO
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