The Emerald Ice Of Lake Baikal
Nature’s beauty has a wonderful power to heal. Who does not love to spend time with nature. One such beauty of nature could be seen in the Lake Baikal situated in Southern part of Eastern Siberia in Russia. It is an incredible natural wonder of the world, that everyone may want to visit at least once in their lifetime. It is one of the seventh largest lake in the world by surface area.
Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake on the planet that contains one-fifth of the world’s freshwater and around 20% of Earth’s freshwater. It is considered as the world’s most clearest and oldest lake of more than 25 million years. Baikal is a home to thousands of species of plant and animals, many of which exist nowhere else in the world. It is the deepest with a depth of 1,462 meters.
It was declared as UNESCO World Heritage Center in 1996. Known as the Galapagos of Russia, it is also nicknamed as “Older sister of Sister Lakes”. More than 300 streams and rivers flow into lake Baikal, but there is just one outlet, The Angara.
Why named Emerald Ice
Every winter as the temperature goes below zero, the surface of the lake freezes. Lake becomes stunning in winters when it is completely frozen. Its cold waves break against the shore and decorate the seaboard rocks with icy pattern. After the lake being frozen, the water is so clear that you can see an astounding 130 feet below.
The vast white landscape is covered in a blanket of ice sculptures. Transparent and shining, these masses of broken ice look like shards of glass rising into the sky. They are caused by the slow and unequal pressure in the main body of the packed ice as well as by the unequal structure and temperature.
The Ice Hummocks
Another peculiarity of the Lake are the “Hummocks”- heaps of ice splinters that are pushed out on the surface. They are formed during freezing, when not strong enough ice is smashed by wind and is thrown out of the shore. The hummocks glow in the sunlight like huge pieces of emerald, hence the name.
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