The Formation of Lake Stars

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dc.creatorTsai, Victor C.
dc.creatorWettlaufer, J. S.
dc.date2007-04-11
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T07:56:18Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T07:56:18Z
dc.descriptionStar patterns, reminiscent of a wide range of diffusively controlled growth forms from snowflakes to Saffman-Taylor fingers, are ubiquitous features of ice covered lakes. Despite the commonality and beauty of these ``lake stars'' the underlying physical processes that produce them have not been explained in a coherent theoretical framework. Here we describe a simple mathematical model that captures the principal features of lake-star formation; radial fingers of (relatively warm) water-rich regions grow from a central source and evolve through a competition between thermal and porous media flow effects in a saturated snow layer covering the lake. The number of star arms emerges from a stability analysis of this competition and the qualitative features of this meter-scale natural phenomena are captured in laboratory experiments.
dc.description8 pages; 7 figures
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/0704.1504
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/0704.1504
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/127260
dc.subjectGeophysics
dc.subjectFluid Dynamics
dc.titleThe Formation of Lake Stars
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