In March of this year, employees of "SKANEX" again discovered giant mysterious rings in the ice of Baikal using MODIS satellite images. New data helps better understand their formation mechanisms, linking the appearance of the rings to anticyclonic vortices under the ice cover. These rings do not appear annually and have only been observed in certain years, making their discovery particularly interesting. Read the full text to learn more about the mysteries of Baikal!
In March of this year, employees of "SKANEX" analyzing images from the MODIS spectroradiometers on the Terra and Aqua satellites once again discovered giant mysterious rings in the ice of Lake Baikal.Thanks to these space-based images, the reasons and mechanisms behind the formation of ring structures in the ice are becoming clearer. Analysis of images obtained in 2016 showed that the rings continue to appear in the same locations: particularly often near the Holy Nose Peninsula.
Previously, the appearance of the rings was explained by methane emissions from the sedimentary layer of the tectonic basin of Lake Baikal. Now, however, another version has become predominant. The main reason for the appearance of the mysterious rings is anticyclonic vortices that form under the ice cover of the lake due to the peculiarities of its circulation, underwater relief, and the shape of the shores.
Scientists particularly note that the ring structures in the ice cover of Lake Baikal do not appear every year. They were first discovered from space in the late 1990s. Clearly defined ring structures in the ice of Baikal appeared in 2003, 2005, 2008, and 2009. After 2014, the rings were not detected again. And now they have been found once more.