He is so wise, that he goes upon the ice three days before it freezes

A new broom is good for three days

A flag goes up after three days in a row.

Once the water comes out it freezes, and that produces copious amounts of ice particles.

Our results indicate that ice melts in one place and freezes in another. It is a mechanism by which nutrients can be input to the lake.

This means that (glacial) ice melts, leaves the gas hydrates and sediment in the lake, and then freezes as H2O.