Disappearing lake?

[RavenWhitefang]

This happened in a village in Russia, quite odd.

Unfortunatly its a short article and doesnt really explain what happened, though there was no mention of an earthquake. Where did it go?

[Houston411]

This happened in a village in Russia, quite odd.

Unfortunatly its a short article and doesnt really explain what happened, though there was no mention of an earthquake. Where did it go?

The Arial Sea?

[Defiant Noquisi]

Seems it went down a crater/fissure and might have worked its way to a river not far from it.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...d/11814596.htm

[evilwill]

Don't you see... the answer is right here:

I am thinking, well, America has finally got to us

The yanks didi it!!!

[lotrfan55345]

^ On Fark.com ... people took that seriously, even thought the girl was being sarcastic. -_-

[Mezurashi]

this situation, though flaky/scary, is not as bad as when there is a Huge Carbon Dioxide layer formed at the bottom of a freshwater lake. I couldn't find the links (my skills are limited this way) but I know that in Africa or South America an entire village was wiped out by asphixyation when the water 'inverted' somehow (I think it was a 'thermal bloom' of some sort) and all that trapped CO2 outgassed and swamped the region. at first everyone thought it was some sort of volcanic methane/sulphur dioxide reaction, but further study revealed that it was just a bad situation, which occurs naturally all over the world, and the outgassing occurs irregularly and randomly.

disappearing lakes are not that deadly, unless you're on it at the time (LET'S BLAME THE BORG!) but having a few million cubic meters worth of CO2 swamp you can ruin your whole life...

[lotrfan55345]

^

Lake Nyos in Cameroon, Africa.

preading centers, the huge rifts which expand oceans and break apart continents, have a three way split when seen from orbit. They expand in three directions, usually at angles similar to each other, until one or two of the rifts conquer the other(s). This is the pattern responsible for Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun in the African country of Cameroon. When South America and Africa split apart millions of years ago, it was caused by the three way split of a rift zone. Two arms of the split dominated to create the coast lines where the two continents would fit together today. The third, presently situated just off the coast of Africa and extending East North-East through the country of Cameroon, failed to split the land but has stayed an active hot spot of activity. These two lakes situated along a line formed by the failed rift are a pair of volcanoes with large craters on top. These craters have filled with water to create lakes with beautiful clear blue lakes.
However, the volcano beneath the waters was not dead. Over the years after its creation it constantly fed the bottom of the lake with Volcanic Carbon dioxide and other gasses. Normally a lake has a turn-over of waters, the warm on the top goes to the bottom and the cooler waters below move to the surface, at least two major movements a year during the shift of seasons. However Lake Nyos did not have regular turn overs and the CO2 built up in waters of the deep part of the lake. In 1986, August 21st at about 9:30 pm something disturbed the lake. Most likely the result of some sort of mild earthquake or volcanic tremor, the lake erupted in a cloud of CO2 which "sloshed" out of one side of the lake and down the slope of the mountain. People in the area heard a low rumble as a huge cloud of gas 165 ft thick swept as far as 16 miles away from the mountain as fast as 45 miles per hour.
Those who lived through the incident felt light-headed and warm before they passed out. When they awoke they found they were some the the few things breathing. In the area where the gas cloud passed, all of the oxygen was pushed out of the way and all creatures which needed it to survive were asphyxiated. All the plant life in the area was untouched but not a bug, bird or animal survived. Those who walked through their once lively towns were surrounded by the bodies of over 1700 people and 3000 DEAD COWS!!! The eruption of all the volcanic gas turned the once clear blue waters into a yellow sulfur smelling soup.
This is one of the most bizarre deadly incidents caused by volcanic activity. It is unfortunate that this is not a one time incident. In about 20 years Lake Nyos may once again be over saturated with carbon dioxide. Lake Monoun, too, was formed in the same way as Nyos and may in the future surprise the residents of its base with a death cloud of its own.

[dutchie]

I have seen a Discovery Channel documentary about that.

Apparently a French (!!) team of scientists now have built an "exhaust" system into the lake, a large pipe which allows the CO2 to be leaking constantly into the air, never reaching a dangerous dosis.

The pipe spouts an enormous jet of CO2 saturated water (sparkling mineral water...) into the air, as shown here:


Here's the website where the picture was taken from:
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/mhalb/nyos/index.htm

[Mezurashi]

ahh, the French figured out a way to help the situation ... I'm happy to hear it. and thanks to you guys for finding the info, people like me depend on others to have more skills at linking and referencing ... or maybe if I stopped being intoxicated for two whole hours ...

[Protostar]

Freshwater Lakes disappear because they reside on frozen permafrost.
After this permafrost melts, the lake sneaks away between the layers.
Not a beautiful thing since 125 of them has done it so far.

[Defiant Noquisi]

Don't you see... the answer is right here:



The yanks didi it!!!

Yeah, but you guys were right there watching while throwing shrimps on the barbie, holding a tinnie with a slab by your feet!

[Mezurashi]

Freshwater Lakes disappear because they reside on frozen permafrost.
After this permafrost melts, the lake sneaks away between the layers.
Not a beautiful thing since 125 of them has done it so far.

I just read about this happening in Canada's North, but I don't recall if the Russian town was that far north as well ...

I also believe the actual physical dynamics of the lake disappearing isn't as simple as it runs off but more like the water find somewhere else to rest, and this could lead to even greater problems in the future (like 'frost heave' on a huge scale should things cool down again).

Anyone else have anything on this?

[Red Shift]

The pipe spouts an enormous jet of CO2 saturated water (sparkling mineral water...) into the air, as shown here:

Would you be able to drink this water? Being that it is saturated with CO2? Wonder how it tastes....

[dutchie]

Well, it's not only CO2 (which in itself is tasteless, and is added to any soft drink) but also swamp gas or methane and H2S gas which smells of rotten eggs.

The organic debris on the bottom of the lake, plus the fact it IS a crater lake are the causes of the build up.