Monday 20 May 2013

The Explosive Potential Of Methane Frozen Beneath Abraham Lake

image credit: 生活童話 cc

Something menacing - and explosive - lurks beneath the surface of the frozen Abraham Lake in Alberta, Canada. The crisp, bluish-white, cotton wool-like formations are actually frozen bubbles of flammable methane gas trapped in the icy manmade lake.

As spring sets in and the lake thaws, the bubbles break free and rise to the top. And when the ice cracks, the bubbles escape and vanish into the atmosphere. The methane in the lake is created when bacteria decomposes organic matter in the water. This organic matter includes plants, leaves, trees and also animals that have died and fallen into the lake.

3 comment(s):

Anonymous said...

There's something very wrong with the photo credit.

Gerard said...

You are right. It got scrambled while posting, I guess.
You now see the correct credit. It's Japanese and I believe it means something like 'Life fairy tale'.

Anonymous said...

Yes, my limited knowledge in the ancient arts of Google Translate have led to similar results.