A brine icicle is an icicle that forms deep beneath the ocean, often called a brinicle. When sea ice is created in the Arctic and Antarctic ocean, impurities like salt are forced out, this makes the ice that is formed less salty than the water from which it was formed. As the salty water leaks into the surrounding water, it becomes denser. This prevents the water from freezing to the ice and causes the ice to sink. As the ice sinks and reaches warmer water below, the water freezes around it and creates the descending tube of ice called a brinicle.
These weird phenomena are called "icicles of death" because once the ice reaches the seabed, a web of ice forms aroung it and spreads across the ocean floor, freezing everything it touches. This includes any sea life it finds, including star fish and sea urchins which are common animals found on the sea floor.
https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/brinicles-what-icicles-death
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