Buried Underneath 2 Miles of Solid Ice in Antarctica is a Giant Lake

Posted by Alex in Science & Tech, Travel & Places on September 11, 2007 at 12:59 am


In the early 1990s, a Russian drilling rig encountered something strange when boring a hole deep in Antarctica. They had actually found an ancient lake, buried beneath two miles of solid ice!

In the wake of the lake’s discovery, there arose considerable debate regarding the likelihood of finding life there. The environment is remarkably similar to the dark and cold ocean below the surface of Jupiter’s ice moon Europa, so the discovery of life in Vostok could have interesting extraterrestrial implications. Due to the cold, the complete absence of sunlight, and the toxic levels of oxygen, many scientists are certain that Lake Vostok is sterile. That, however, would be a scientific first, since never before has a completely lifeless body of water been found on Earth. Extremophile organisms have turned up in the unlikeliest of places, including within volcanic vents on the ocean floor, in the rocks deep in the Earth’s crust, and in frozen arctic soil.

LinkThanks Nastia!


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4 comments to "Buried Underneath 2 Miles of Solid Ice in Antarctica is a Giant Lake"

  1. andrew
    September 11th, 2007 at 8:44 am

    so... get to it! start digging!

  2. johnald
    September 11th, 2007 at 9:46 am

    when there's an area on Earth with extreme conditions they always say if there's life there then it could mean there's life somewhere else in our solar system...
    they really need to look at the anthropic principle more closely. so many unlikelihoods in the development of life means we'll probably be very,very far away from another world with life on it.
    why would conditions be right for life to develop in another place in the solar system?
    the helix shape forming form molecules in zero-gravity is something to look into, but other than that - looking for life on wrolds close by is a waste of money.

  3. Jonn
    September 11th, 2007 at 10:06 am

    Alien VS Predator, anyone?

  4. Ali S.
    September 11th, 2007 at 10:50 pm

    It looks alot like a small image of the African Continent, no?


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