Development of Ice Cover in Water Areas during Methane

In traditional hydrometeorology and ice physics, when analyzing the development of ice, only degree-days of frost are taken into account. Despite the presence of pores in the ice formed during inhomogeneous crystallization and dynamic loads, ice is universally considered monolithic. Situations where ice cannot withstand design loads in frosty conditions are academically inexplicable, although it is common knowledge, for example, porous ice in reeds. Proof of methane accumulations under the ice-fountains of fire over holes in swampy waters. “Culprit” is methane. Methanotrophic microorganisms, structurally and functionally specialize in using it as a source of carbon and energy, and turn monolithic ice into porous, practically without changing its thickness. When rushing, dark products of methanotrophy and detritus raised by gas bubbles appear on the surface of the ice. The albedo of the ice surface decreases, contributing to its melting and the formation of dilutions. The early melting of ice in dilutions and their transformation into vast wormwood is due to methanotrophy products and seismogenic small detritus, which gravitationally slowly settling out of the cold photic layer, thinning it, contributes to an additional insolation warm-up of 2°C ÷ 3°C, freeing the waters from ice months earlier than normal.