In the clear

Frozen bubbles, Lake Abraham, Alberta, Canada

Glowing orbs suspended in time. Pillars in an enchanted underworld. Stacks of iridescent pikelets or possibly poker chips. Step out onto this lake, about a three-and-a-half-hour drive north-west of Calgary, and make your own interpretation. In one of nature’s great subversions, these formations actually come with a fairly mundane backstory: they’re releases of methane gas, created by bacteria that dwells at the bottom and feeds on organic matter. What makes this man-made lake at the base of the Canadian Rockies unique? A combination of winter’s plummeting temperatures and the wind moving rapidly over the frozen surface prevent it from turning opaque. Bubbles that have escaped the depths and solidified before they’ve reached the surface can be seen from about January, arrested in an icy infinity room.