Frazil ice formation in open water
Frazil ice crystals rocked by swells begin to glom into pancakes
Swell further gloms pancakes and rafts them ontop of each other
As more and more rafting occurs, more and more frazil ice is formed in open water, until pancakes have been rafted to maximum thickness (0.4- 0.6 m on average)from wave energy.
Frazil Ice Crystal fully grown into dendritic shape with original sphere of nucleation still visible at center
