These stones are suspended over the ice in an elegant frozen pedestal, like a sculpture from a museum. This amazing phenomenon is called Baikal Zen, and it’s the result of wind whipping over the enormous lake, slowly carving these pedestals, while leaving the stones perched on top.

True to their name, these stones feel like something you might see in a zen garden, alongside patterned sand and bonsai trees.

Lake Baikal is the deepest lake on Earth, and holds all sorts of amazing treasure beneath its surface. It’s lovely to see these natural phenomena atop the surface as well.

Photos via Elena Vtorushina and Shutterstock. 


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Author

Ben VanderVeen is the founder and editor of Moss & Fog, one of the web’s longest-running visual culture destinations. Since 2009, he’s been finding and framing the most beautiful, surprising, and thought-provoking work in art, architecture, design, and nature — reaching over 325,000 readers each month. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

3 Comments

  1. Daniel Andrew Langevin

    Nice work, this lake is beautiful and mysterious must be fun to photograph.

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