Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Bogobam. Here. Should Hell ever freeze over, it'll probably happen right after Niagara Falls does. The Roaring Landmarks sits on the border of Upstate New York and Ontario, Canada. It consists of three separate waterfalls, with the tallest being a hundred and sixty seven feet that's fifty one high. These cascading waters have attracted the odd There devil over
the years. We've all heard the stories about thrill seekers and barrels, but most visitors simply come to admire the falls natural beauty. In the wintertime, the falls get extra gorgeous because I see formations often appear on or around them. Yet, despite claims to the contrary, Niagara Falls doesn't ever fully freeze. And it turns out that freezing Niagara Falls solid would
be quite a feat. During the winter, a whopping twenty two million gallons or five million liters of water tumble over the falls per minute, and scientists say it would be extremely difficult to freeze that much fast flowing water. Even in sub zero temperatures, the falls can appear frozen when the thick mist that they produced freezes as it
accumulates on the trees, boulders, and railings that surround the falls. Also, there are days when a thin layer of frozen spray and miss hardens over the falls themselves, right beneath this icy blanket, though you'll still find plenty of liquid water flowing on its usual downward path. A bottom line, Niagara Falls isn't going to freeze all the way through anytime soon. But that's just one landmark. Let's talk about some other waterfalls.
On a cold morning in January, physics professor Michael J. Ruise and independent researcher Charles Cranford filmed a sixty five foot that's twenty waterfall in North Carolina that had mostly frozen Trickling over. Some of the ice was a stream of super cooled water. Super Cooled water is water that's managed to remain liquid below its normal freezing temperature, that
being thirty two degrees fahrenheit or zero degrees celsius. It was significantly colder outside when Louise and Cranford recorded their video. The local temperature was just five degrees fahrenheit or negative fifteen celsius. Under those conditions, even the super cooled water couldn't stay liquefied for long. The duo captured the Carolina waterfall freezing into ice in real time, and not just any ice. The water was hardening into a clumping collection
of tiny needle shaped crystals. Meteorologists call that frazzle ice, often associated with turbulent and super cooled water. Frazzle ice can also develop when mist droplets freeze. This ice is a common site around and waterfalls, like the ones at California's you Semity National Park during below freezing weather, When frazzle ice clings to a rocky surface, it can become
a platform for even more ice to build upon. Waterfall icicles can also build up or down, found in many regions of the globe, from France to Utah, they can take many forms. You can find ice stalactites dangling off of cliffs or ice stalagmites ascending from the ground below, and if a lowering stalactite touches a rising stalagmite, you get a column like ice pillar. A note that these icicles and columns can be dangerous as they can suddenly collapse.
But if you do see I see stalactites, stalacmites, or pillars gathered around your favorite waterfall. It doesn't mean the whole waterfall has frozen solid. That only happens when the source of the waterfall freezes through. Whether that's a creek, a stream, or a river, the larger and faster flowing a given source is, the smaller its chances of becoming frozen. Today's episode was written by Mark Mancini and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots of other
fast flowing topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.