Rock flour and glacier water mix to make beautiful blue colours
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Rock flour and glacier water mix to make beautiful blue colours

by Jennifer Ziesch, State Authority for Mining, Energy and Geology, Hannover, Germany

I took this photo of the Peyto lake in summer last year. The lake is located in the middle of the Canadian Rocky Mountains in the Banff National Park. After a short walk to the Bow Summit the geologist gets this very nice view of the blue, glacier-fed lake. This photo and especially the bright, turquoise colours haven't been edited! Significant amounts of glacial rock flour flow into the lake, and these suspended rock particles give the lake this nice colours.