Page 202 - For Men of Understanding

THE USE OF FREEZING FROM ABOVE

One of the most interesting and important qualities of water is that, unlike
other substances, its solid state is lighter than its liquid state – that is, ice is
lighter than water. For this reason, seas start freezing from above, because the
frozen layer is lighter than the liquid part of the water. Thus, the risk that the
sea would totally freeze causing life to cease to exist is eliminated, because the
frozen layer which rises above insulates the liquid part remaining below the
sea from the cold weather outside.
If ice were heavier than water (which is what would normally be expect-
ed), then seas would start freezing from the bottom. In this case, the insulation
referred to above would not occur, all of the seas would freeze and life in water
would be destroyed. Since ice takes up more space than water, the frozen seas
would take up more space than before and cause the water on the top to rise
and overflow.
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In addition, that water’s heaviest state is +4 C is very important for life. In
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seas, water reaching +4 C sinks to the bottom as it is at its heaviest. For this
reason, the bottom of the seas that are covered with icebergs is always in a liq-
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uid state, and has a temperature of +4 C in which living beings can survive.
Similarly, in wintertime, the bottoms of lakes and rivers covered with an icy
layer are also life supportive.

200 For Men of Understanding