If water continued to contract when cooled, ice would become heavier than liquid water and would sink. And in lakes and rivers, all life would perish: the water would become one solid mass of ice during the freezing winter months. Even the oceans would be affected; the ocean bottoms would be extremely cold and many fish would die. Eventually, much of the oceans would continue freezing until completely solid, killing all marine life. But because of the unusual quirk within the water molecule which