What bubbles beneath the ice At a first glance, it appears that…

What bubbles beneath the ice At a first glance, it appears that…

What bubbles beneath the ice

At a first glance, it appears that these frozen waters are bursting with some sort of strange sea creatures (a jellyfish, perhaps), but in fact, they are filled with innumerous methane frozen bubbles. Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada, hosts several lakes that freeze in the winter, capturing within bubbles of methane, which is a highly flammable gas.



These eerie bubbles are formed when dead organic matter (such as plants and animals) tumbles into the water and then sinks to the bottom. What happens next is that bacteria present in this environment consume that dead organic matter and then release methane. As methane attempts to escape, it turns into white floating bubbles and gets trapped underneath the ice.

Methane is fairly inoffensive when escaping from the surface of water, however, these pretty bubbles can cause an explosion if ignited, so care is recommended. If you are ever in Banff National Park to check out the methane bubbles, you should probably just take some pictures, enjoy the view and leave the ignitions to the experts.

It is well known that methane is not only formed in Canadian lakes, but also throughout the Artic region, but permafrost has been decreasing and this means that methane previously trapped in there is being progressively released into our atmosphere. This is something that worries climate scientists and concerns us all, since methane is a very powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming.

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Sources:

http://nyti.ms/2y6WQAO

http://bit.ly/LqlUJa

http://bit.ly/2bQgLd1

Photo credits:

http://dailym.ai/1yD2W35 – photos by Paul Zizka/Caters News Agency_

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