The onset of winter marks changes in landscapes that vary from the humdrum to the spectacular. An example of the latter is Lake Baikal in eastern Siberia. Baikal is the oldest and most voluminous freshwater lake on the planet., and at 1642 meters deep, it is also the world’s deepest lake.
While each season brings its own breathtaking transformation at Baikal, the real magic happens in winter (January to March) when the lake freezes into an immense ice-skating rink. As early as the end of January, the ice is at least 50 cm thick and able to withstand up to 15 tons in weight. The ice is also crystal clear, crisscrossed with cracks that weave through the ice sheets like white veins. Small air bubbles just below the surface are visible but gaze deeper, and the lake appears black because one is gazing right down into the abyss where no sunlight reaches.
You’d think that in such a remote place, the silence would be deafening, and you’d be surprised. Like tectonic plates, the ice freezes and unfreezes in a cycle shaped by wind and water, and it is possible to hear sound of the ice groaning as it expands and contracts at least towards the end of March when winter ends.
Photo: Hsiaohsin ChenPhoto: Hsiaohshin ChenPhoto: Hsiaohshin ChenA 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. Photo: Hsiaohshin ChenIce skating across the frozen lake. Photo: Katja Riedle. An aerial shot of two hovercraft on the ice near Olkhon Island. Photo: Anton Petrus.A van drives across Baikal’s frozen surface which is crisscrossed with cracks. Photo: Saral Wasanarungroj.More shaping of the surface of Lake Baikal by wind, sublimation, melting, and refreezing. In this case, multiple small ice chunks scattered across the ice at one point, freezing to the surface and then, in turn, being sculpted by the same winds forming pedestals and cavities. Photo: Katvic. Shoreline pebbles coated with frozen lake water. Photo: Baiborodin Mikhail.A well-worn, very smooth piece of ice attached to a small pedestal on Baikal’s surface. Photo: Evladova Elvira.Ice floes on Lake Baikal. Photo: Hsiaohsin Chen.Frozen columns of methane bubbles, trapped in Baikal’s ice. Photo: Tilpunov Mikhail.Icicles hang from trees in a grotto on Baikal’s Olkhon Island. Cycles of melting and refreezing, coupled with strong winds drive the diverging directions of the icicles. Photo: Lowe99.Ice-covered trees on the shore line of Lake Baikal. Photo: Shchipkova Elena.Sunset viewed from inside an ice cave on Lake Baikal’s Olkhon Island. Photo: Shane WP Wongper.Unusual ice formations along Baikal’s shore. Photo: Evladova Elvira.
