Sea ice strongly scatters light and reflects much of it, while allowing only a small amount to penetrate. Yet, this limited amount of light still contains almost the full range of visible wavelengths.

When relatively newer ice is worn away by seawater, summertime melting, or strong winds, the older ice is revealed. And when light hits, it penetrates more deeply.

Blue ice typically forms in high mountainous regions and glaciers, flowing out of icefields that span over several peaks or mountain ranges, but in the right conditions it forms in Michigan's ...

To further understand why ice in the Straits of Mackinac and other spots in the Great Lakes region sometimes appears blue, we turned to Will H. Cantrell, Ph.D., a physics professor at Michigan ...