ice circle

English

An ice circle on the Vigala river in Estonia

Etymology

From ice +‎ circle. From being a circular disc made of ice.

Noun

ice circle (plural ice circles)

1. A phenomenon that occurs on rivers during winter, where floating ice caught in an eddying flow will rotate around, knocking off its distant edges, forming a floating revolving circular disk, slowing turning under the influence of the underlying vortex current; when the temperature conditions are not too warm, leading to ice breakup and fragility, and not too cool, freezing over the entire surface.

Synonyms

• ice disc
• ice disk

Translations

Translations

• Esperanto: glacia disko (eo)
• French: disque de glace
• Indonesian: cakram es
• Swedish: issnurra (sv), isskiva (sv)

See also

• ice carousel (an artificial ice circle)