Scientists Finally Know Why These Bizarre ‘Ice Pancakes’ Were Found Swirling on a River

Unusually dropping temperatures are often known to provoke bizarre phenomena in nature, from frostquakes to brinicles, stalactites, diamond dust, hair ice, frost flowers, and more. In December 2022, the UK experienced an unexpected cold snap, with temperatures dropping down to -17.3C (0.8F), the lowest ever recorded in the past 12 years per BBC. On one of these days during this colder period, Callum Sinclair, project manager for the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative (@SISI_project), spotted an array of odd icy disks floating on River Bladnoch. In a thread on X, he shared some photos of these eerie circles, referring to them as “ice pancakes.” The visual buffet of these pancakes is served when frozen foam gets trapped in river currents.

Known for its wild salmon springs and a famous whisky distillery fringing its border, River Bladnoch is located in Wigtownshire, Scotland. Rising gently from Loch Maberry, it weaves its waves towards Wigtown Bay. Before Sinclair spotted the ice pancakes floating on this river’s rising and falling swells, scientists never considered the possibility of this sight. Although these “ice pancakes” were a common occurrence in Canada, the US, around Antarctica, and in the Baltic Sea, it was atypical to notice this vista in Scotland, probably due to the rare cold snap.

"I've seen ice pancakes occasionally before," Sinclair told Live Science, "But these were particularly interesting" because of their perfect shape.” In a follow-up tweet, he explained that these pancakes usually form when the foam swirling on the river’s surface becomes trapped in an eddy of current. “On a river, they are believed to form when the foam begins to freeze and is sucked into an eddy. The swirling current creates a circular shape as the frozen discs increase in size and are rubbed against each other,” Sinclair wrote, also sharing a short clip of these pancakes. The footage looks like dozens of lily pads sailing on the swinging currents of cobalt blue water.

Ocean Expeditions explains that these pancakes usually feature rimmed, round edges that are also elevated. This elevated perimeter is caused by the recurring slamming of ice chunks into each other due to turbulent waters. However, as icy as they may appear on the surface, they’re actually quite very slushy and can instantly break and crumble when held with hands. According to the UK Met Office, ice pancakes can grow to “between 8 and 79 inches (20 and 200 centimeters) across,” which means, a pancake can be as small as a frisbee or a small pizza, and as long as a large round coffee table.

It wasn’t just the River Bladnoch this time that displayed this surreal pancake design. The rare cold snap in the UK prompted many other rivers in the area to display similar formations. Commenting on Sinclair’s tweet, people shared that they spotted similar ice pancakes in other regions of Scotland as well. @Eliza_c_Bates shared pictures of a carpet of white pancakes layering the surface of River Esk in the Lake District. @cjwallace13th and @dorothysillars shared footage of giant-sized pancakes forming in River Kelvin in Glasgow.

Elsewhere in the world, “ice pancakes” is not a new phenomenon. It has been observed time and time again by researchers. In 2017, for instance, University of Cape Town researchers observed pancake ice floating in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, in a region between the Atlantic and the Indian oceans. Last year, BBC reported a story of “ice pancakes” observed in the falls at Norby Weir, near Thirsk in North Yorkshire. Plus, very recently, this pancake ice formation was observed in Lake Erie, Lakewood, along the Gold Coast. All of this makes us think that nature, too, has a penchant for cooking, cooking pancakes especially.