Floating Lakes
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Floating Lakes are an atmospheric phenomenon that comes into existence when water condenses around agglomerations of float dust, congealed phlogiston, thus giving the water buoyancy and causing it to rise until its buoyancy is counteracted by the thinning atmosphere. These floating droplets are attracted to each other in a way similar to magnets and tend to form larger and larger bodies of water, until either the density of float dust becomes too low (causing a partial or total collapse of the floating lake) or the lake evaporates in the sunlight.

In the atmosphere of Rothea, floating lakes are a fairly rare phenomenon, usually mistaken for ordinary high-altitude clouds, but they form a vital part of high-altitude ecosystems such as those part of the Boreal Wind. Many species use them as spawning grounds, which in turn attract aerial predators hunting their larvae. The collapse of such clouds sometimes leads to "rains of tadpoles" and similar strange phenomena.

They are extremely common on the planet Yethrod, and slightly less common on Magrith, while being almost unknown on Surtus. Research is ongoing why the atmospheres of different planets have absorbed different quantities of this stellar substance, although some geologists claim that float dust used to be more common on Rothea in the distant past, until it "rained out" and was absorbed by the ground.

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