These images capture the varying mineral growth structure of ice. For a substance to be defined as a mineral, it must: 1) be naturally occurring, 2) inorganic, 3) solid, 4) have a definite chemical composition, and 5) have an ordered internal structure. All of which are met by ice, such that it can naturally occur in the solid phase of H2O, where its atoms can be systematically arranged in a repeating pattern enabling growth. Some of its distinct mineral properties consist of a being brittle with a relatively soft hardness (1.5), a lack of cleavage, a hexagonal crystal system, vitreous lustre, conchoidal to uneven fracture, and massive, crusty, or fibrous crystal habits, as seen in some of the images.