Researchers carried out field surveys at the ancient rift lake to better understand the phenomenon.
The ice rings were first spotted via satellite images in the early 2000s. The rings were found to have darker, thinner ice at the edge, with thicker ice in the center. They normally measure between 3 and 4.3 miles wide and appear in different places across the lake in an"unpredictable manner," scientists wrote in the journalTo better understand the rings, a team, led by Alexei Kouraev, from the University of Toulouse, France, carried out field surveys at the lake over 2016 and 2017.
"[The] results of our field surveys show that before and during ice ring manifestation, there are warm eddies that circulate in a clockwise direction under the ice cover," Kouraev told NASA."In the eddy center, the ice does not melt—even though the water is warm—because the currents are weak. But on the eddy boundary, the currents are stronger and warmer water leads to rapid melting.
The team say their research suggests that ice rings have been appearing on Lake Baikal for over 50 years, with 51 detected in total. They are found in two other lakes besides Baikal—Teletskoye Lake, also in Russia, and Hovsgol Lake in Mongolia—suggesting the phenomenon is more common than once thought.
Concluding, they said Lake Baikal presents a"unique opportunity" for continuous monitoring of the ice ring phenomenon. Further studies, through satellite images and field observations, and laboratory work should help"bring new insights to help understand and monitor complex dynamical processes taking place in wintertime," they wrote.
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