Canada no longer has an epishelf lake, following the collapse of an Arctic ice shelf that had held the rare body of water in place. The Brighter Side of News reported on Friday that the lake — the last of its kind in the country — was lost after the ice shelf gave way.
Epishelf lakes form when a freshwater layer sits on top of seawater, held back from the ocean by a floating ice shelf. The arrangement depends on the ice shelf staying intact, which makes these lakes unusual and vulnerable to changes in the surrounding ice.
According to The Brighter Side of News, the recent collapse of the ice shelf removed the barrier that kept the lake separate from the sea. Coverage of the loss was also carried by CBC and Gizmodo, both of which described the lake as the final example of its type in Canada.
The reports frame the disappearance as the end of a distinct Canadian feature rather than a temporary change. The Brighter Side of News attributes the loss to the ice shelf collapse, and the other outlets describe the lake as gone.
Scientists and observers will now watch whether similar ice-dependent water bodies elsewhere in the Arctic hold their structure, or whether further ice shelf losses produce the same outcome.