Extruding Ice from Steel Fences and Pipes with Diurnal Freeze/Thaw (Relative of the ice cube spike you might have seen in your freezer)

After extruding many rods and ribbons of ice from steel pipes I think I know how the ice was extruded from the steel fence in British Columbia. While I produced my ice in one night, the processes leading to the extrusion of ice from the steel fence took place over a couple of days. It is a product of the diurnal freeze/thaw process, consistent with this series of pages.

Somehow water gets into the pipes of that steel fence. On the first night the water in the fence freezes, but it does not freeze solid. Then the next day some of the ice melts. The ice that remains in the fence floats to the top of the water. Then that night the temperature falls and ice forms again. This time the expanding water forces some of that ice that did not melt the day before to be pushed out of any holes where the two pipes are welded together. The results are the ribbons of ice captured by Sheryl.