Working on a medieval setting I thought of the idea of a biome similar to Minecraft Ice Spike Plains where this ice structures naturally occur. These structures in particular are tall and sharp towers made full of ice that raises from the ground ranging from 10 to 20 meters high but some of them can even reach 50 meters or more.
Could this be possible? What would be the meteorological and climatic requirements for it? Is there any real life example of it?
Thank you in advance.
On a small scale, with very pure water, this happens:
In this case you would need below-freezing conditions above the surface, and just the right flow of just the right temperature water from below.
Frankly, I don't see this working on a large scale.
update on second thoughts, you could have something of the kind, but still not really plausible: start with a frozen lake. The lake has a thick ice crust of maybe one or two meters thickness. In some points, there are hot spots and ice melts, forming round pools. Now, water seeps from below and overflows, like a volcano, forming a cone with a wide mouth. If the water flow from below, the heat distribution of the liquid plume and the temperature are exactly right (and they must slowly vary with time in the correct way), then an ice pipe will form, with water driven up the pipe by increasing pressure. As you can see, it's quite far-fetched.
I don't think they can naturally occur.
Ice shows plastic behavior under load, and such a tower would slowly crumble under its own weight, becoming sort of a pear shaped ice thing.
i think it would be in arctic regions and would form like stalagmites(or is it stalactites?) do in caves in this case over 100s of years there would be a perfect weather pattern where it would rain but freeze on the ground so its always cold enough to stay frozen but sometimes it rains and builds up higher and higher. it would have to have like a boulder at the bottom as a base, the could also get snow then rain and it would meld into ice. either way it would be rain in a freezing climate so it would build up.
Will these do? Penitentes de nieve in the Andes, spectacular sculptures formed by the pattern of sunlight caused by different contours selectively melting packed snow.
