Mysterious round ice plate appears on Lake Baikal

Round ice plate appears on Lake Baikal.
Recently, a mysterious round ice plate appeared on the surface of Lake Baikal in Russia, the strange phenomenon has occurred many times in the past. Scientists think it might be the result of underground deposits of natural gas.

Scientists first noticed the ice plate on Lake Baikal in the late 19th Century, when they were completely dumbfounded by the spectacle. Scientists also wrote observations of the ice in 1882, which state: one-meter-high ice plate floats on the water; cracks on the ice seem to have been made by air bursting through; the sound of large explosions accompanies the cracks. In 2003, scientist rediscovered the mystery from satellite photos, where they described it as an unusual round structure. From then on, the round ice plate has occurred time and time again.

Scientist Nicole Grenier from Irkutsk Lake Research Institute said the mystery could now be solved thanks to his and his colleagues' extensive research. He believes the ice plate is formed by underground deposits of natural gas.

Grenier and his colleagues found the plate's edge is thinner than the center, and cracks occur more frequently on the edges. In addition, according to their measurements of water temperature and flow, the under water turbulence is an important factor in the plate's appearance.

Field exploration of Lake Baikal tells us the region dose have rich deposits of natural gas and an active volcano at the bottom of the lake, which causes magma mixed with gas to often pour out. Grenier's team also found that in the past few years there have been 10 eruptions of natural gas, the highest of which was 900 meters.

Marian Moore, an environmental scholar, said natural gas erupting from the bottom of Lake Baikal could push the ice plate out of water in a whirl, just like tornado does, and could finally mould the round ice plate.

Research staff as well as the Russian government warned ships operating in Lake Baikal not to get close to the ice plate, because it might cause the natural gas eruption and fire.

By People's Daily Online/CRI

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