What Causes a Brinicle to Form?

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The discussion highlights the excitement surrounding the BBC documentary series "Frozen Planet," airing on BBC 1, and praises David Attenborough's narration, particularly in "Planet Earth." Viewers express a preference for the BBC version over the US adaptation narrated by Susan Sarandon. There is a sentiment that continuous airing of "Planet Earth" on cable could enhance children's education. The conversation shifts to a scientific inquiry about the physics of seawater and freshwater freezing, where one participant clarifies that liquid brine, due to its high salinity, remains liquid at lower temperatures, causing it to sink in seawater, which has a higher freezing point. This explanation underscores the fascinating nature of the documentary's content.
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Amazing footage by BBC Nature, I had to share:

 
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This absolutely brilliant documentary series (Frozen Planet) is on tonight at 9 on BBC 1. Well worth a watch!
 
I love David Attenborough's voice! I bought the BBC version of Planet Earth just because he narrated it - not the US Susan Sarandon version.
 
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turbo said:
I love David Attenborough's voice! I bought the BBC version of Planet Earth just because he narrated it - not the US Susan Sarandon version.
We have "Planet Earth" queued up for the holiday so we can revisit this classic over a period of days and avoid the tripe that the networks are selling as "classics".

I'm no business-entertainment guru, but I'll be willing to bet that if a cable channel would loop Planet Earth continuously, parents would set their cable channel permissions accordingly. Their children would at least be a bit better educated.

Perhaps I'm a bit optimistic regarding the motivations of the parents...
 
Andy Resnick said:
whoa...

Can someone explain the physics involved here? I can understand seawater being liquid at say -3 C, and fresh water would freeze at this temperature, although not as fast as it appears to here. Why would fresh water sink in seawater? Fresh water has a maximum density at +4 C and becomes less dense at lower temperatures. That's why ice forms on the surface and floats.

EDIT: OK. I missed the first sentence the first time I saw this. This is a stream of liquid brine at a lower temperature than the seawater. Because of its high salinity the brine "finger" remains liquid, but the less saline seawater has a higher freezing point and freezes around the liquid column as the heavy brine descends. Fascinating.
 
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