Shattered lakefront

A fractured floe along the shore of Northerly Island in Chicago. Obviously the scene of much upheaval, but it was completely still the whole time I was there. My son asked if the waves themselves just froze in place.

floe.jpg

Does anyone know what process causes this? Is the west coast of Lake Michigan where Mother Nature tries to sweep the shards of winter under the rug?

One response to “Shattered lakefront”

  1. Emily Lubcke says :

    Hi there! Hope all is well on this first day of spring/day before we leap backward into winter…
    I have an answer for you on this ice thing. As waters warm and ice chunks break up the prevailing winds bring them to shore and create the surreal scene you witnessed. I was first introduced to this concept as an undergrad at Madison and our enviro studies class observed this on Lake Mendota from the Memorial Union Terrace. There, the ice ends up on the west side of the Lake, but in Lake Michigam, which is much larger and winds tend to change direction and are a bit less predictable, they will end up on the Chicago shoreline.
    Hope to see you Galena-way soon.