Quote:
Originally Posted by niky
It's the water molecule's shape that determines its crystalline form... and makes solid H2O less densely packed than liquid H20... which also makes it lighter and capable of floating.
Don't recall why this is important to life...
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It effectively insulates lakes, ponds and rivers with a layer of floating ice, keeping liquid water below it, even in arctic conditions - though the ice gets a tad thicker.
But ... expanding ice can also kill simple life forms or small animals through destruction of their cells, as they burst when they freeze.