AAT Ice Flowers

Overview

The Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) has three year-round research stations, Mawson, Davis and Casey, which are administered by the Hobart-based Australian Antarctic Division. During the winter months, temperatures on these research stations frequently fall below -40° C. This is the perfect environment for ice flowers – also known as ice ferns – to flourish.

Ice flowers are intricate ice patterns that form when humid airs meets a sub-zero pane of glass or glass window. They are icy, fern-like patterns that ‘grow’ on the surface of the glass, resulting in beautiful formations.

They may start as mere droplets of water melted by the daylight sun, only to emerge as icy beauties by morning. These formations can even change, depending on whether dust or other matter is also present on the glass.

The AAT Ice Flowers stamp issue, designed by Sharon Rodziewicz and which will be released on 20 September 2016, features photographs of four stunningly intricate formations from AAT research stations during winter.

The stamps are also part of a minisheet that features six embellishments. The $1 light-blue stamp is foiled with a translucent pearl foil; the $1 purple-blue with a clear holographic foil and embossed with a hand-sculptured embossing die (as is the top-left of the minisheet itself); the $2 orange stamp is foiled with a clear foil and debossed; and the $3 grey-green ice flower stamp is foiled with a metallic silver-gold foil and embossed with a hand-sculptured embossing die.

Technical specifications