ICE ICE ICE 2

As I have been going through each one of their newsletters the whole day today, I came across this little peculiar article:

As illustrated by the range of
articles in this special Baikal edition
of the BREN newsletter, Lake Baikal
is a source of fascination for many
different people and for many different
of reasons.
It has long been a destination for
scientists from a variety of disciplines
and it is a place of myth and legend
going back centuries. However, what
must be one of the most unusual
perspectivesonLakeBaikalisprovided
in a sound recording.
Peter Cusack recently produced a
CD of Baikal’s ice sounds comprising
20 tracks.
“I have long wanted to visit
Baikal, but finally decided to do so
after chancing upon a brief internet
reference to the mysterious ice sounds
to be heard from autumn to spring.
My trip to the lake’s more accessible
southern tip took place in April/May
2003, specifically to record the sounds
of the ice break-up.
“Althoughthemeltingprocesstakes
weeksthereareafewdayswhentheice
finallydisappearsandthelakebecomes
water again. It is a very spectacular
and moving transformation. I have not
seen nature operating on such a vast
scale before. It was a magnificent and
humbling experience.”
One track on the CD is Falling
In, an underwater recording of a man
accidentally falling through a soft spot
in the ice.
“Sound travels extremely well
underwater and this was recorded from
about half a mile away.As the ice nears
the final melt cracks and weak patches
begin to form, making it increasingly
hazardous to walk on.
“Luckily he managed to scramble
out. An hour later we met him. He
was a telephone engineer who lived,
while working, in a van beside the
lake. He offered us tea and a chance
to warm up in front of a hot wood
stove. His trousers were drying nicely
on a line.”
Another track, Floating Icicles
Rocked by Waves, was recorded
underwater.
“When melting the thick ice splits
vertically into long icicles, which
remain packed together in floes. At
the edge they fall, or cascade, into any
open water and float in millions on the
surface. The wind and waves jostle
them together creating this wonderful
sound that is so characteristic of the
place and time of year.”
For more information on
Peter’s work, please contact him at pcusack@btinternet.com