ColumbiaMagazine.com
Printed from:

Welcome to Columbia Magazine  
 



































 
Letter: Ms Rieder's Ice

By Billy Joe Fudge

Like Ms. Rieder, I feel for animals who have to endure the frigid temperatures of winter. But in the case of this Great Blue Heron, it has wings and can fly south should push come to shove. However, the poor fish are trapped in the water beneath the frozen surface and they only survive because of the unequaled, unique quality of water.

Water is the only known, naturally occurring substance, that is more dense at 39 degrees than at its freezing point of 32 degrees. Since it is more dense, it is heavier and it sinks.

As each surface layer of water cools or warms to 39 degrees, it sinks to the bottom of the pool, pushing the cooler or warmer water on the bottom toward the surface. This is why we say that large bodies of water, such as lakes in temperate regions, "turn over" each fall or spring.

If it were not for this anomaly of water, lakes could then freeze all the way to the bottom and the fish would most likely die.

Comments re: Birds of Kentucky - Great Blue Heron on ice




This story was posted on 2026-02-07 12:35:26
Printable: this page is now automatically formatted for printing.
Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know.



 
































 
 
Quick Links to Popular Features


Looking for a story or picture?
Try our Photo Archive or our Stories Archive for all the information that's appeared on ColumbiaMagazine.com.

 

Contact us: Columbia Magazine and columbiamagazine.com are published by Linda Waggener and Pen Waggener, PO Box 906, Columbia, KY 42728.
Phone: 270.403.0017


Please use our contact page, or send questions about technical issues with this site to webmaster@columbiamagazine.com. All logos and trademarks used on this site are property of their respective owners. All comments remain the property and responsibility of their posters, all articles and photos remain the property of their creators, and all the rest is copyright 1995-Present by Columbia Magazine. Privacy policy: use of this site requires no sharing of information. Voluntarily shared information may be published and made available to the public on this site and/or stored electronically. Anonymous submissions will be subject to additional verification. Cookies are not required to use our site. However, if you have cookies enabled in your web browser, some of our advertisers may use cookies for interest-based advertising across multiple domains. For more information about third-party advertising, visit the NAI web privacy site.