Frozen bubbles trapped beneath the surface of a lake in western Canada were captured by Canadian landscape photographer Paul Zizka and recently published in the UK’s Guardian newspaper.
When conditions are just right, a lake can freeze up providing a smooth surface great for skating. Zizka was skating at Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park when he stumbled on a field of bubbles. It was a long skate. He was between 20 and 25 kilometres from his car.
“Thankfully, I always bring the camera gear with me so I was able to lie down on the ice for an hour or so at the far end and try and document it,” he says.
Bubbles of flammable methane gas
The bubbles are made when decaying organic material at the bottom of the lake releases methane gas. If the temperature is low enough, the bubbles freeze.
“Some years they freeze better than others. This year they seem to have an amazing amount of detail to them,” Zizka says.
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