I love this quote from Sarah Addison Allen who wrote “The Sugar Queen”: “Snow flurries began to fall and they swirled around people’s legs like house cats. It was magical, this snow globe world.”

Congratulations to Team Latvia for their first-place win in the 2020 Multi-Block competition of the World Ice Art Championships. This was their first time competing in Fairbanks. Their breathtaking and delicate sculpture is titled “The Heart of the Universe”. 

Tomorrow begins the double block competition. There are twenty-three teams of two carvers per team. Each team will have two blocks of ice. The height limit for their finished piece is 12 feet. Once again, the Enchanted Forest will be alive with activity.

In the meantime, how well do you know your ice? Have fun taking this quiz.

1. What is a piece of ice that breaks off from a glacier called if it’s between 1 to 5 meters above the surface? 

Iceberg   Bit   Cube   Growler 

2. The polar ice caps, glaciers and those wandering icebergs contain about ___ percent of the world’s fresh water. 

15   25   50 75 

3. The transition from ice to water is melting and from ice directly to water vapor is:

            Decrystallization    Flocculation   Sublimation   Condensation 

4. Which state in 2014 had the most hail damage claims?

 Colorado   Nebraska   Texas   Illinois 

5. How many known solid crystalline phases of water are there?

             17   14   11   6 

6. What is the approximate increase in volume when fresh water turns to ice?

            4% 7%   9% 12% 

7. Are most types of ice more or less dense than water?

 More   Less 

8. The oldest known major ice age was called 

Huronian   Cryogenian   Sturtian   Quaternary

9. What type of ice is often found in space? 

Amorphous ice    Frazil Ice    Shuga Ice    Nilas Ice 

10. What is the visible outgas of an ice comet called?

             Rosetta    Coma    Geyser    Jet 

11. Which rover photographed the Martian polar ice caps first? 

         Curiosity   Spirit   Opportunity   Tumbleweed 

12. The polar caps of Mars have been shown to contain seasonal layers of 

        Hydrogen Ice      Nitrogen Ice     Carbon Dioxide Ice     Metallic Ice

Answers: 1. Growler; 2. 75%; 3. Condensation; 4. Texas; 5. 17; 6. 9%; 7. Less; 8. Huronian;       9. Amorphous Ice; 10. Coma; 11. Opportunity; 12. Carbon Dioxide Ice

Come back later for some more “Ice-education”.