Page 83 - (DK) I Can’t Believe It! 2

STRANGE BUT TRUE! 81
Let’s get right to the point—wind doesn’t
create penitentes. These spikes of hardened snow FAST FACTS
develop where air is cold and dry, allowing the sun to turn The sides of the
snow instantly into water vapor, without melting it first. depressions reflect
This is called sublimation. Some areas sublimate heat, causing more
quicker, leaving behind towering penitentes. snow to sublimate.

Tall spikes
are created.

Spikes are most
plentiful in the areas Snow sublimates
between Argentina unevenly, creating
depressions.
and Chile.
The height of
penitentes ranges Sunlight turns snow into vapor,
from 1 in (3 cm) up creating depressions, which catch
to 16 ft (5 m).
more sunlight and so sublimate
quicker. The high sides of the
depressions become spikes.

English
naturalist
Charles Darwin
wrote about
penitentes
in 1839.

US_080-081_309600_Spiky_snow.indd 81 19/12/17 12:56 pm