Can anyone speculate on what might have caused these circles to form in the water? No one seems to find them even interesting, and I think they’re fascinating. How did this happen? Has anyone else seen anything like this? Does it / do they have a name?
Lots of speculation in this thread: What are these slush circles on the surface of the water?
We never reached any solid conclusions, but I’m leaning towards the interaction of waves with a shallow, irregular, rocky bottom.
I would assume that as waves crash against the shore and snow imbankments, reflected wavelets would come back in all directions.
Slush would pile upfrom the outside.
Just as a bubble is an imperfect sphere, balancing air pressure inside with surface tension, these circles are a similar manifestation of snow covered water surface.
Frozen jellyfish. Once they thaw out, they’re okay. Nah, just kidding.
Oh - and to answer your other question, yes, I’ve seen it a lot. I’ve been trained to perform ice rescue on the Great Lakes, and I served a few years on a small ice breaking tug in Maine, so I’ve seen all kinds of ice. I love that stuff.
From link
Physics is a strange mo fo!