Lake Tahoe
Nowadays Lake Tahoe is known as a holiday area which is attractive both in summer as well as during the winter. The Lake is deep blue, crystal clear and can be viewed from the high surrounding mountains of the Sierra Nevada.
In winter the temperatures hardly ever get above freezing point. If so it is only for a few hours on a sunny day. So you would expect the Lake to be frozen over, covered with ice and snow. However, I noticed that the Lake has a very peculiar feature: the water does not get frozen!
What is the reason? What chemical substance has the water, that it does not get frozen? Are there special currents in the lake? Is the water temperature too high, may be due to volcanic activity deep down in the lake?
I try to figure out a few things with just my senses. First, I observe that the river that flows from the Lake into a valley has ice on it's shores even though the current in the stream is quite strong. Though the water from the Lake has the capacity to turn into ice.
I walk to some piers that stretch above the Lake. The water is very still, no currents and no wind that disturbs the surface of the water.
I step down to the water and taste it. It does not taste salty at all. It tastes purer that pure water in the sense that it does not have taste. Apparently, there are very few minerals in the water.
A closer look at the water gives more information: I cannot discern any plants, or animal life in the water. There seem to be no algae.
I still have not found a reason why the water in the Lake does not get frozen.
Nowadays Lake Tahoe is known as a holiday area which is attractive both in summer as well as during the winter. The Lake is deep blue, crystal clear and can be viewed from the high surrounding mountains of the Sierra Nevada.
In winter the temperatures hardly ever get above freezing point. If so it is only for a few hours on a sunny day. So you would expect the Lake to be frozen over, covered with ice and snow. However, I noticed that the Lake has a very peculiar feature: the water does not get frozen!
What is the reason? What chemical substance has the water, that it does not get frozen? Are there special currents in the lake? Is the water temperature too high, may be due to volcanic activity deep down in the lake?
I try to figure out a few things with just my senses. First, I observe that the river that flows from the Lake into a valley has ice on it's shores even though the current in the stream is quite strong. Though the water from the Lake has the capacity to turn into ice.
I walk to some piers that stretch above the Lake. The water is very still, no currents and no wind that disturbs the surface of the water.
I step down to the water and taste it. It does not taste salty at all. It tastes purer that pure water in the sense that it does not have taste. Apparently, there are very few minerals in the water.
A closer look at the water gives more information: I cannot discern any plants, or animal life in the water. There seem to be no algae.
I still have not found a reason why the water in the Lake does not get frozen.
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