NASA’s Arctic Mystery: What Are the Beaufort Sea Ice Circles?

In the world of the unexplained, we’ve seen it all: crop circles in England, fairy circles in the desert, and even bizarre craters on Mars. But a new mystery has emerged from one of the most remote places on Earth: the Arctic.

While flying over the Beaufort Sea, NASA scientists spotted something they had never seen before, and they’ve been flying over ice for decades. They’re calling them "ice circles," and they look like something straight out of a sci-fi thriller.

The Discovery: NASA’s Operation IceBridge

The mystery began during a routine flight by Operation IceBridge. If you aren't familiar with it, IceBridge is NASA's aerial fleet dedicated to mapping the Earth's polar ice. Their mission is to understand how our polar regions are changing in a warming world.

On April 14, mission scientist John Sonntag looked out the window of his P-3 research plane and saw a series of strange, semi-circular features surrounding dark holes in the ice. "I don't recall seeing this sort of thing elsewhere," Sonntag noted in his field log. Even for a man who spends his life looking at frozen landscapes, this was totally new.

The Anatomy of a Mystery

What makes these circles so baffling? According to IceBridge project scientist Nathan Kurtz, the area consists of very thin, "young" ice. You can tell because of a phenomenon called finger rafting, where two sections of thin ice collide and slide over and under each other like interlocking fingers.

While the "zipper" patterns of the ice are easy to explain, the "amoeba-shaped" holes are not. Kurtz admitted, "I’m not sure what kind of dynamics could lead to the semi-circle shaped features surrounding the holes. I have never seen anything like that before."

Possible Culprits: Seals or Science?

Since the discovery, researchers have been tossing around several theories to explain what created these frozen targets:

1. The Seal Theory: Some experts, like Walt Meier from the National Snow and Ice Data Center, think the holes are breathing spots made by seals. When a seal surfaces, it might push waves of water out over the snow, creating those concentric circle patterns as the water freezes.
2. Warm Water Springs: Another theory suggests that warm river water (perhaps from the Mackenzie River) or warm groundwater from inland mountains is bubbling up to the surface, melting the thin ice in specific, circular patterns.
3. Drainage Features: It’s possible that once a hole is poked in the ice, it acts like a drain, creating a vortex or a specific drainage pattern in the surrounding slush.

Is There a Global Connection?

Interestingly, this isn't the first time "ice crop circles" have made headlines. Similar features have appeared halfway across the world:

• Lake Sinara, Russia (2016): A massive circle appeared overnight on the frozen surface.
• Lake Baikal, Russia (2009): Giant rings were photographed by astronauts on the International Space Station.

While theories for the Russian rings range from methane gas emissions to, you guessed it, alien signals, the scientific consensus for Lake Baikal points to "warm eddies" (swirling currents) under the ice.

The Alien Factor

Of course, the internet has its own ideas. Given the long-standing rumors of secret bases in the Arctic, some wonder if these circles are evidence of extraterrestrial "ice fishing" or underwater craft surfacing.

While NASA stays focused on the physics of the ice, the truth remains out there. For now, these circles are a chilling reminder that even in the most explored parts of our planet, nature still has a few secrets left to reveal.