Frost flowers - Arctic Ocean

Frost flowers - Arctic Ocean
These spiky little bunches of ice, called frost flowers, form on thin and new ice in the Arctic Ocean.
The strange phenomenon where frost grows from imperfections in the surface ice amid extreme sub-zero temperatures nearing -22C or -7.6F, forming spiky structures that have been found to house microorganisms. In fact, the bacteria found in the frost flowers is much more dense than in the frozen water below it, meaning each flower is essentially a temporary ecosystem, not unlike a coral reef.

Source:
http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2012/12/frost-flowers-blooming-in-the-arctic-ocean-are-found-to-be-teaming-with-life/
Photos by Matthias Wietz