Mysterious giant ice balls discovered on Swedish coastline

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:59:18 +0000

Bird watchers walking along the beach on the Baltic island of Öland off Sweden’s southeastern coast were puzzled by an unusual natural phenomenon recently when they stumbled across dozens of football-sized balls of ice lying on the shore.

A week before Christmas, Magnus Bladh of the Ottenby bird station, located on Öland’s southern cape, was strolling along the beach with a colleague when he saw something he’d never seen before.

“Temperatures were below freezing and there was a light wind, but it was very cold! In the seaweed we noticed at least 200 large ice balls,” he said in a report to Swedish meteorological agency SMHI.

“The balls varied in size but the biggest ones were quite large, some larger than a football.”

What mystified Bladh was that the balls were resting on the west side of a bed of seaweed, even though the prevailing winds were from the east.

When Bladh and his colleagues later broke open one of the ice balls, they discovered that it consisted of a 2 to 5 centimetre thick shell of ice, which covered a core of soft, wet snow.

According to SMHI, the ice balls likely form when rolls of light snow are blown from the shore into water which is at or just below freezing, but fails to form uniform ice due to strong winds.

The rolls of snow are then tossed about in the chilly waters, where wave action eventually shapes them into balls of ice.

“It’s hard to say just how common ice balls are, since we are reliant on witness reports,” SMHI spokeswoman Alexandra Ohlsson told The Local.

A review by SMHI of weather conditions on southern Öland in the days leading up to Bladh’s ice ball discovery revealed that temperatures in the area were generally below freezing, with snowfall, and winds from the north and northeast averaging 50 kilometres per hour.

According to SMHI, it was possible that rolls of snow near the shore remained soft due to warmth emanating up from the ground, which could have then been blown into the water by the strong winds.

Once formed, the balls likely came back to shore and, rather than floating out to open water, remained there due to a change in sea conditions in the days before the ice balls were discovered. Water levels sunk several decimetres between December 17th and December 18th when Bladh and his colleagues found the ice balls lying on the shore.

Beside’s Bladh’s discovery, SMHI’s website only mentions two other reported instances of ice balls being discovered in Sweden since the 1950s.

thelocal.se

The top ten most mysterious and terrifying spots in the world

admin — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:04:54 +0000

1. American Museum of Philadelphia, Matt

When it was first established, the museum was used for medical students to do research in human anatomy and deformity of the local people. Now it has become a museum displaying many gruesome things; various diseased, injured, and deformed cases, as well as the ancient medical equipment and biological development in the exhibition hall. There are more than 20,000 exhibits, including photos of war victims, Siamese human remains, dwarf skeleton as well as a colon and other human parts. There are also some unique collections, such as a female body that resembles soap a long with a childs two headed skull. In such a gloomy environment, the audience can not help but be horrified.

2. Truk lagoon, Micronesia

Truk Lagoon, also knowned as Chuuk is located in the Caroline Islands group, north of New Guinea and east of the Philippines.. According to scientist’s research, more than 50 warships and submarines of World War II lie at the bottom of Truk Lagoon. At the bottom of the lake there is now a coral and marine life here has become a paradise for scuba diving enthusiasts. Unfortunately, many divers don’t come back after they dive.

3. Magic Sonora Market, Mexico

Sonora has a magic market, where a large number of witches gather. A witch sitting in her own small shop claims that as long as she has 10 U.S. dollars she will be able to eliminate poverty and suffering.

4. Easter Island, Chile

Easter Island is known as the world’s most mysterious place. On the island there are many world-famous statues. These statues are facing the sky, as if praying for something. In addition what is surprising is the stones are 20 meters tall and weigh 90 tons by themselves, know one knows how they were carved or completed.

5. Mancsak Swamp, Louisiana, US

The Marshes have an alias – “ghost swamp”. It is located near New Orleans. There are legends that the swamp was cursed by a voodoo curse queen. In 1915 there were three villagers in this swamp who mysterious disappeared.

6. Underground tomb in Paris, France

178 kilometers of underground tunnels bury about 7 million people in Paris. Remains are neatly arranged in the walls and year of death is marked. Air in the tomb is very dry and filled with the flavor of rotting corpses. The tomb is cut from limestone and was created after the cemeteries were full because of disease outbreaks at the beginning of the 18th century. It was first host to 70 people.

7. Winchester Mystery House, California

San Jose, Calif., has a Winchester Mystery House where there are always many strange things. In 1884, a widow named Sarah Winchester began the construction of a magnificent mansion. The construction took a time consuming 38 years and was not completed until after the widow’s death. After the completion of the house there have always been strange things happening that can not be explained, it was known as the Winchester Mystery House. There are 160 luxurious rooms, equipped with modern heating, drainage systems, gas lights, three elevators and 47 fireplaces. There are embedded in the floor of the windows, stairs leading to nowhere; open the door, but there is only a blank wall. There are rumors that Sarah and other tortured souls still walk in these rooms.

8. Mary King Street, Edinburgh, Scotland

A narrow cobbled side street with a haunting past. In the 1645 plague spread to Edinburgh and this street was completely blocked at the time. Some legends say that when a member of the family had the plague, they were all sealed behind bricks and doors then burnt or starved to death.

9. Sicily

Crowley is likely to be the world’s most notorious magician. In 1920 he was considered one of the most evil people. Crowley claimed that Hitler had stolen from him the Swastika. Crowley built a private home which was covered in bizarre dark murals. According to rumors, Crowley constructed the building so that he could be free to enjoy sex. Crowley admired powerful filmmakers, and a documentary film was made in the house but film mysteriously disappeared. This building has now become a ruin.

10. Chernobyl

In 1986, Kiev, Ukraine the most serious nuclear power plant leak in history happened. Hundreds of thousands of residents were forced to evacuate, resulting in 19 miles of the city becoming desolate.

source: People’s Daily Online

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Mysterious giant ice balls discovered on Swedish coastline

The top ten most mysterious and terrifying spots in the world