wildmoossee near seefeld, austria, is a periodic lake that only fills up every few years. a combination of the melting snow, underground rock crevices and other factors cause the local groundwater to rise in spring. after reaching its maximum level in late spring, groundwater levels slowly recede, and the lake completely disappears in autumn, to return only after approx. 4 years.
i recently visited the area and found out that both wildmoossee and neighbouring lottensee had appeared this year. before that, the lakes apparently carried water in 2012, and 2002.
here’s the season’s last remaining water at the very base of the basin, in a 360 degree panorama à la google maps:
the white stuff on the ground was not snow, but seemed to be dried, filamentous algae.
if you can’t see the embed correctly, have a look at the google plus post, or the flat version below:
on a side note: thumbs up to google for overall improving the photosphere feature in android 4.3! somehow i didn’t grasp the extent of improvements until now…