It is taken from a plateau of about 15 - 20 meters high, underlain by very ice-rich Pleistocene permafrost (70-90% volume of ice). This is eroded by wave action at the lake bank. The lake expands into the ridge in this way by melting of the permafrost. The steep slope at the bank causes material to slide in the lake.

 

What you see is blocks of tundra soil and mud sliding into the lake. The mud is created by melting of the permafrost. In particular at the top of the slopen, permafrost ice is exposed t the sun and releases lots of water by melting. This acts as a lubricating agent over which the blocks of soil slide downslope into the lake. To geomorphologists, this process is known as an active layer slide.

 

The pictures of the movie are taken every hour and the entire movie spans several weeks. It starts in mid-June, when the lake was still ice-covered. At the end the camera is toppling over into the mud. The clip video is prepared by Angela Gallagher and Ko van Huisteden from the Vrije Universitet in Amsterdam.