200 Items Tagged

Ice

Diamond Beach

A black sand beach where glacial fragments wash ashore and look like sparkling diamonds.

All illustrations: John Mata for Atlas Obscura

The Atlas Obscura Crossword: Ice to See You

AO Puzzles January 22, 2024

One of nine ice patches released objects from 6200–5300 years ago.

Unusual Boxes and 7,000-Year-Old Trove Found Locked in Ice

Along with obsidian that dazzled scientists in Canada.

Meg St-Esprit December 12, 2023

Herds of glacier mice, which are actually moss balls, move in concert across the ice.

Herds of Mysterious ‘Glacier Mice’ Baffle Scientists

These moss balls move in unison, and researchers are okay with not knowing why.

Roxanne Hoorn December 7, 2023

Lake City, Colorado

Lake City Ice Park

These towering cliffs crystalize each winter, forming sheer walls of ice that are open for climbing.

Heinabergslón

A little-known, yet charming glacial lagoon.

South Africa's northeastern region is a complex landscape of savanna, forest, and dramatic mountains, such as eMhlongamvula. The varied landscapes sit on massive gold deposits and some of the oldest continental crust on the planet.

The World's Oldest Glaciers Are Buried Under South African Gold

2.9-billion-year-old evidence could be proof of a lost ice age—the first “Snowball Earth.”

Gemma Tarlach July 12, 2023

Sepp Kipfstuhl of the East Greenland Ice-Core Project examines a sample taken from where fast-moving and slow-moving ice meet in the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Wonder Is Everywhere: The New Tornado Alley, the Coolest Library in the World, and More From Around the Web

Get a peek into what we’re obsessed with right now.

April White June 23, 2023

Why Won't These Icebergs Leave Canada Alone? | Untold Earth

Data from NASA’s Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite, or ICESat, show elevation across Antarctica. The low elevations on the left side show how the Weddell and Ross Seas were one connected.

Octopuses (and Their DNA) Suggest Antarctica Will Melt Again

Two geographically separate populations of cute cephalopods once mated a very long time ago.

Frank Jacobs June 9, 2023

On Antarctica's Vega Island, a Grinning Skull Is the Face of Climate Change

Satellite imagery recently captured a dramatic view of shrinking glaciers and snow cover on the remote island.

Gemma Tarlach April 12, 2023

Outside cave, showing other end of collapsed lava tube.

Shoshone, Idaho

Shoshone Ice Caves

This underground cave located in the most barren reaches of Idaho is filled with ice year-round.

Podcast: Songs of Ice

How to appreciate ice without getting all that cold, with the Atlas Obscura Places Team.

The Podcast Team January 17, 2023

Wildlife filmmaker Bertie Gregory became obsessed with going to Antarctica to capture the largest known whale gatherings in the world.

Capturing the Mysterious Antarctic Whale Gathering on Film

No one was sure about the size of these almost-mythical wildlife events—until we got it all on camera.

Bertie Gregory January 12, 2023

Hand signals shown on the building.

Pensacola, Florida

Crystal Icehouse

Once the primary source of ice in this region during the mid-20th century.

Hôtel de Glace

Our Favorite Wondrous Ice Structures Around the World

Bundle up, we're going to get a little frigid.

Jonathan Carey November 18, 2022

With ice as the medium, wind, water, and falling objects create art on a frozen lake in Slovenia.

How Water, Wind, and Chance Sculpted an Icy Work of Art

Lake stars, ice rings, and other natural phenomena brought magic to a small Slovenian lake.

Gemma Tarlach November 10, 2022

Russian painter Valery Jacobi's 1878 <em>Ice House</em> depicts the jester, Mikhail Golitsyn, and the Kalmyk woman, Avdotia Buzheninova, being paraded to their icy bed chamber.

The Time a Russian Empress Built an Ice Palace and Forced Her Jester To Get Married In It

Cruel joke, power move, or both?

Sarah Durn October 4, 2022