Why are alpine lakes different colors?

Clear alpine lakes have low concentrations of suspended sediment and turbidity which can be caused by a lack of erosion in the watershed. Glacier-fed lakes have much higher suspended sediment concentrations and turbidity due to inflow of glacial flour, resulting in opaqueness and a bright blue or brown color.



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Fine particles of pulverized rock absorb and scatter sunlight in ways that can give water a striking blue-green color.

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These are bodies of water located at altitudes of 10,000 feet or more above sea level—and many require traveling to the world's most remote destinations like the Himalayas and the Andes Mountains to see them.

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The river cuts through sandstones, limestones and some dolostones. But the culprit for the beautiful blue is the limestone! Limestone is composed primarily of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and is white in color. As the river breaks down this rock into tiny crystals, these crystals will get mixed up into the water.

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Why is Blue Lake so clean? Scientists attribute the lake water's clarity to its passage underground from Lake Constance, which filters out nearly all the particles suspended in the water. Its clarity reveals water's natural blue-violet colour.

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The blue in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron is sediment brought to the surface when strong winds churned the lakes. The green in Lake Erie and in Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay is algae, which builds on the surface when winds are calm.

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The reason the ocean is blue is due to the absorption and scattering of light, NASA explains. The blue wavelengths of light are scattered, similar to the scattering of blue light in the sky, but absorption is a much larger factor than scattering for the clear ocean water.

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