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Photos: The Incredible Ice Formations of Lake Baikal (33 photos)

Lake Baikal, in the Russian region of Siberia, is a massive body of water—the world’s deepest and most voluminous freshwater lake. Its location and the surrounding geography can lead to fascinating phenomena in the winter, as ferocious winds and cycles of melting and refreezing build and sculpt works of structural beauty—stones supported on wind-worn pedestals, undulating surface ice, encrusted beaches, crazy icicles, frozen methane bubbles, and more. Below, a collection of some interesting and beautiful images from the clear ice of Lake Baikal.

A small stone stands on a “leg” above the ice of Lake Baikal. At one point the bottom of the stone froze to the surface of the ice, and over time, relentless winds wore away its underpinnings, sublimating the ice and shaping a smooth pedestal within a shallow depression. For a complete scientific examination of this phenomenon, you can view this presentation by Team Ukraine at the International Physicist’s Tournament 2018. ( Savva_25 / Shutterstock)
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2019/05/lake-baikal-ice-formations-photos/590374/