July 9, 2011 Frozen air bubbles

[ajaccio]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaMama

Anyone know how bubbles get trapped like that?

Don't know your answer, but when I was a kid growing up in New England my parents taught me to look at ice on a pond and see how far down the bubbles went. That would give me an idea of how thick the ice was before I'd decide if I could skate on it or not.

Ponds and such freeze from the surface downward. Even with ice on the top, there is movement of the water underneath. I assume that bubbles get created in the current and get trapped by the ice above which freezes more and more downward.

This is my guess...