Feb 19 2023 - Ice Shelfs and Whirlpools

 

There's an ice shelf forming in Lake Erie - it has made the U.S. national news.  It got me thinking about whirlpools.  The most dangerous is in Japan in the Naruto Straits.  The second is Niagara's, the third is Skookumchuck Narrows, at the entrance of the Sechelt Inlet in B.C..  The fourth is Old Sow in New Brunswick. It is the largest in the world.  Aren't we full of whirlpools here in Canada!  There are videos of Steve Fisher kayaking into whirlpools.  Bye bye if he did that in Niagara.   Whirlpools are phenomena that form when water moving in two different directions comes into contact with each other and interact in an unusual way. They can't continue to travel at the same speed and direction through each other, so they are forced to turn and swirl around each other.  Depending on the volume of water and force of colliding waters, whirlpools can appear in different sizes. Some whirlpools form and disappear over a short period of time, while some water systems keep whirlpools for centuries, according to the Niagra Parks website. The larger and more dangerous whirlpools are called maelstroms. These hold the power to fatally engulf anyone who comes too close. The Niagara Falls River has all classes of rapids - from I to VI along its route.  I couldn't find a visual depiction of the Whirlpool geological formation, but here is one of the Falls.  I am stunned by the depth of the Niagara River at the Falls - 185 feet.   Here's the official story:  "The huge volume of water rushing from the Falls is crushed into the narrow Great Gorge, creating the Whirlpool Rapids that stretch for 1.6 km (1 mi). The water surface here drops 15 m (50 ft) and the rushing waters can reach speeds as high as 9 mps (30 fps). The Whirlpool is a basin 518 m (1,700 ft) long by 365 m (1,200 ft) wide with depths up to 38 m (125 ft).  This is the elbow, where the river makes a sharp right-angled turn. In the Whirlpool, you can see the "reversal phenomenon". When the Niagara River is at full flow, the waters travel over the rapids and enter the pool, then travel counterclockwise around the pool past the natural outlet.   Pressure builds up when the water tries to cut across itself to reach the outlet and this pressure forces the water under the incoming stream. The swirling waters create a vortex, or whirlpool. Then the waters continue their journey to Lake Ontario. If the water flow is low (water is diverted for hydroelectric purposes after 10pm each night) the reversal does not take place; the water merely moves clockwise through the pool and passes to the outlet. Below the Whirlpool is another set of rapids, which drops approximately 12 m (40 ft)." And the ice shelf in Fort Erie? Lots of slushy waves hitting an ice shelf forming on the shore.  Looks like whipping cream.  There was an earlier on at the end of December with icicles hanging from the beachfront houses. Today's picture is a Spring flower - an abstract of a grape hyacinth.   Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca