Today’s Friday Foto comes from Abraham Lake located on the North Saskatchewan River in Alberta, Canada. This beautiful man-made lake at the foot of the Rocky Mountains creates spectacular frozen methane gas bubble formations each winter.
So where does the methane come from? NPR explains it beautifully…
“…Methane gas comes from leaves (and trees and grass even dead animals) dropping into the water, where they sink to the bottom and get munched on by bacteria that poop out methane, producing that familiar “marsh gas” smell. Some gas is much older, squeezed out of ancient oceans or from deep down near the Earth’s mantle. When that older methane rises to the surface and bumps into freezing lake or ocean water, it fuses into a hard white substance called methane hydrate, a white, pasty rock. As long as it’s frozen at the lake bottom, the gas is trapped, but when it warms, the gas fizzles out of the rock or mud, forming these lava lamp clumps that float up in six, seven, ten foot columns. …”
Check out some stunning photos of Canada’s magical frozen bubble lake…
Above photo by Emmanuel Coupe
Sources: WhereCoolThingsHappen.com and NPR
Stay safe (and warm) … and have a great weekend! 🙂 j & B
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