Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations ice holes

I have a hole in the ice in my lake, about 2 foot across. There are bubbles in the middle of this hole. The hole is in front of the dam about 20 feet. What kind of gas would be coming through the ice. The water is 5 to 7 feet deep in this area and the ice looks like it could be 3 inches thick. It has made a crater type ridge maybe 1 inch tall around this hole. 8 year old lake. There is water at the lakes bank so I am not going on the ice. Would like to cover with plastic and light it to see if it is meathain. Last week there were 6 or 7 smaller holes on the other side. looked like ice auger holes but had 5 or 6 jagged cracks coming off the round holes. These holes were 7 feet from bank in 6 to 7 feet of water and did not see any air bubbles coming from them. In the summer there are bubbles coming off the bottom but not as many and in a different spot. Any idea what this could be? When we were drilling a well. The drill bit dropped 12 to 15 feet like it hit a hole. Could there be a cave under ground that air is being forst out of it as water fills it?
Anyone else have these holes in there ice?

When drilling wells we call those type of things fractures. Fractures can hold alot of things like methane and or water. There are some areas in E Texas where people can run enough gas from their water well to power their home. And hard to tell how large or in what direction they go unless we use sound to see what is down there.

The well water tastes good and does not smell. The lake has a lot of springs in it. It will stay full with very little rainfall. Could this be a spring, usually I thought a spring in the ice, was clear ice circle with cloudy ice around it. Something to stay away from, because the ice is always thinner.

bubbles in the ice can be caused by many things.....beavers/muskrats exhaling under water is one. Fish relieving their air/swim bladders is another. Turtles are another source of bubbles. Decomposition of bottom material can cause methane and other gasses which cause bubbles. Anything that disturbs the bottom of the pond can release trapped gasses in the muck - fish, turtles, etc.

Your holes with jagged edges, clear in the middle and spread throughout the pond....are likely drain holes which are sometimes called octopuses
http://lakeice.squarespace.com/drain-holes/

You can see a couple drain holes on my pond here


Here are some springs - this is an old sand pit that is completely fed by ground water infiltration with a south to north flow. This picture is looking west. This was early ice, after a warm rain - you can see all of the small drain holes in the foreground


High flow springs or warm water springs will not freeze easily, and are typically very hard to spot depending on the surrounding ice.

I would say you have a small spring or a critter keeping that hole open

Keep in mind that water is most dense at 39 degrees so even a small flow could help circulate enough warmer water to the surface to create a spring crater

The air bubbles that are coming out of the water push the water up over the surface 1 to 2 inches. It is there for a long time so as not to form ice. Does your springs create bubbles like that or are they just an opening created by the warmer water coming to the surface. The small hole do look like your drain holes.

Probably a methane seam. Not entirely uncommon around my area either. Luckily not in my pond, but have one on the dam, and in my well water. At minimum the bubbles will bring up warmer bottom water and melt the hole.

Alternately it is a spring with other types of dissolved or carried gasses coming out of solution once depressurized.

I have seen some that bubble quite a bit but not where they displace as much water above the ice as you describe