Irkutsk scientists are researching a unique phenomenon on Lake Baikal. The lake water glows, however, this glow cannot be seen with the naked eye. It was previously thought that the cause is microscopic algae. However, as it turned out, this is not the case.
So far we have only found out that the glow is a sign of the purity of the water. It is impossible to see it with a simple glance. But Victor Dobrynin has no doubts that the water glows here. This unusual phenomenon was first discovered by a researcher at the Irkutsk Technical University in Lake Baikal.
Today the object of research is the water of the Angara, which flows from the cleanest and most transparent lake on the planet. “The main goal of our research is to determine the nature of the glow of Baikal water. And since Angara originates genetically from Lake Baikal, Angara water is a very convenient object of research,”says Viktor Dobrynin, a leading specialist of the Department of Laser Physics and Nanotechnologies of the Physics and Technology Institute of NI ISTU.
The discovery at Lake Baikal was accidental, recalls Viktor Dobrynin. In the 80s, scientists from Irkutsk State University investigated how deep the sunlight penetrates into the lake. It turned out that the limit is 450-500 meters. But something else struck - the inexplicable glow of the Baikal water. For almost 10 years the Irkutsk physicist conducted observations, and then they stopped. Two years ago, Viktor Dobrynin again took up the solution to a scientific puzzle. Research shows that almost all water is a source of light. But, for example, distilled light glows weakly. The one from the tap fades out quickly.
And the most intense glow is in Baikal. Here it can last for a month. To catch light beams invisible to the eye, highly sensitive devices are used, which have been specially created. In the laboratory, they are kept in a thermostat. Water samples are also placed there. “The time measurement mode is displayed on the computer screen. Each point is the intensity of the glow for one minute,”the scientist shows. Viktor Dobrynin explored Baikal at different points. It turned out that the sacred lake glows everywhere. Moreover, the deeper, and there is the clearest water, the less intense. Why it happens?
One of the hypotheses is that luminescence occurs in the process of chemical reactions. This is how dissolved oxygen interacts with organic impurities in water. “In general, such research takes place in the oceans. The glow mechanism there is completely different. There it is bacteria, some small living organisms give a fairly large background of the glow.
There is no such mechanism on Baikal. Therefore, the mechanism here is somewhat different. And it has yet to be studied,”said Nikolai Ivanov, head of the department of laser physics and nanotechnology at the Physico-Technical Institute of the NI ISTU. These studies have great prospects, they are sure of the Irkutsk Technical University. Glow is a kind of indicator of water purity. Scientists propose to install a monitoring station near the source of the Angara. Online data on the state of Lake Baikal will be received from there.