Battuto in Ice

Almost immediately upon arriving at Palmer, I noticed something. Much of the ice that has been floating in the water is textured with an indented pattern, much like glass that has been carved in the battuto technique. This is an Italian technique where the glass is faceted on a vertical grinding wheel to make semi-regular patterns that can break up the light or condense it. It can have a lovely effect in glass and is no less delightful in ice. the size of the pattern in ice may be related to how big the overall piece is. I have seen giant bergs with huge sized patterns and small piece with facets about 1 cm (½") across.The pattern is a unifying feature on ice that has distinct interior patterns.
Around here, the clear is is called drink ice because they fetch it in to break up to put in drinks. It's dense and doesn't melt too fast.
Look at this delicious berg and its two parts, white and clear. Both have wild textures, but the clear ice is exquisitely patterned with "battuto." The white ice is also interesting. Much of it seems like it is melted together rubble from fracturing and falling bits. The combination of the two areas looks like two different substances, but they are both cold.

The optics of the "battuto" as it goes underwater is also interesting. The highlights or ridges of the patterned facets can be highlighted in light or dark, leaving the rest of the clear ice invisible. I've seen, but haven't yet gotten a photo, the delicate lighting of those edges as they move away underwater as a patterned highlight only leaving the rest of the ice invisible.