Sublimation is the conversion between the solid and the gaseous phases of matter, with no intermediate liquid stage. For those of us interested in the water cycle, sublimation is most often used to describe the process of snow and ice changing into water vapor in the air without first melting into water.The opposite of sublimation is deposition, where water vapor changes directly into ice—such a snowflakes and frost.It is not easy to actually see sublimation occuring, at least not with ice.One way to see the results of sublimation is to hang a wet shirt outside on a below-freezing day.n summary, energy is needed for the sublimation of ice to vapor to occur, and most of the energy is needed in the vaporization phase. A cubic centimeter (1 gram) of water in ice form requires 80 calories to melt, 100 calories to rise to boiling point, and another 540 calories to vaporize, a total of 720 calories.