Mystery of World's Fastest-growing Lakes Solved

www.livescience.com...

In Alaska, thousands of mysterious lakes are all the same shape and have grown steadily for thousands of years, the geological record shows. They are the fastest growing lakes known in the world.

Scientists have tried various ideas to explain the steady growth -- the lakes expand up to 15 feet every year -- and the lakes' consistent shape and orientation, but no theory has held up.

Now a scientist who has worked previously on puzzles as wide-ranging as the spiral shape of Mars ice caps says he's solved the terrestrial mystery.

The solution might also help explain a series of oddly similar lakes near the U.S. East Coast.

another mystery is solved...

by, of course, the scientist who studied puzzles as wide-ranging as the spiral shape of Mars ice caps...

here is to another science mystery solved

or is it???

PIC: LANDSAT image of the largest oriented lake in northern Alaska...

Making us actually read the article and find out the answer for ourselves....shame on you .

Interesting article though. For those of you who don't want to read it, rapid warming of the permafrost leaves the top layer of soil unstable, which flows into the lakes and makes them rise. The shape is mostly due to the sloping area the lakes are all on, and some other things you can read about in the article.

Originally posted by zhangmaster
Making us actually read the article and find out the answer for ourselves....shame on you

.

Interesting article though. For those of you who don't want to read it, rapid warming of the permafrost leaves the top layer of soil unstable, which flows into the lakes and makes them rise. The shape is mostly due to the sloping area the lakes are all on, and some other things you can read about in the article.

You have voted zhangmaster for the Way Above Top Secret award. You have two more votes this month.

thanks for making me look bad

no, seriously, thanks for posting the answer for everyone to see...

you did something that i didn't so you deserve this...

Interesting, not only from the "global warming" aspect, but also because of what it adds to other sciences. Paleoclimates (climates that existed in prehistory) are hard to study and although we know overall patterns, I we don't (in the papers I have read) know much about specific regions or localized city-sized areas.

We could expect to find traces of civilizations, then, where the expanded lake shores were. Of course, finding those old shores is another issue.

Thanks for the neat article find!

Originally posted by Byrd
Thanks for the neat article find!

anytime...

and thanks for the "applause"