An Emerald Green Lake in Tragoess, Austria

Where? Last month AnOther considered the incredible natural phenomenon of a blood red lake in Carmargue, France. Now we turn to the Green Lake in Tragoess, at the foot of Austria’s Hochswab mountains, whose mesmerising emerald green waters obscure, yet hint at, an equally remarkable curiosity below.

What? Complete with grassy banks, leafy trees and park benches, winter visitors to the region are met with a routine sight: a country meadow, dry and unsubmerged, frequented by hikers. But come summer, the Green Lake becomes an underwater park; a surreal anomaly which attracts scores of intrigued divers during the late spring and early summer months of each year, and has been beautifully captured in a number of fantastical photographs.

"The lake's striking and definitive hue is a byproduct of the chlorophyll-rich grass and foliage that it progressively engulfs"

Why? The lake is the result of the mountains' heavily snowcapped peaks, which begin to melt as the Styria region's temperature rises each spring, sending streams of ice-cold, sparkingly clear water into the basin below. The lake's striking and definitive hue is a byproduct of the chlorophyll-rich grass and foliage that it progressively engulfs. By June the water levels can reach up to ten metres in depth, making this the most popular month for diving expeditions before the waters begin to recede.

Created by the combination of blue and yellow, green is the colour of immortality, its connotations being those of Springtime, regeneration and new life. It is the colour of hope, strength and longevity, but also of acidity. It is the colour of water (although not normally to the Green Lake's degree), as red is the colour of fire, and thus the two are often considered to have a strong relationship to each other; indeed they are complementary colours on the colour spectrum.

Text by Daisy Woodward