Posted on 01/09/2011 8:43:41 AM PST by BenLurkin
Lake Vostok, which has been sealed off from the world for 14 million years, is about to be penetrated by a Russian drill bit.
The lake, which lies four kilometres below the icy surface of Antarctica, is unique in that it's been completely isolated from the other 150 subglacial lakes on the continent for such a long time. It's also oligotropic, meaning that it's supersaturated with oxygen -- levels of the element are 50 times higher than those found in most typical freshwater lakes.
Since 1990, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in St Petersberg in Russia has been drilling through the ice to reach the lake, but fears of contamination of the ecosystem in the lake have stopped the process multiple times, most notably in 1998 when the drills were turned off for almost eight years.
When the sample can be recovered, however, it's hoped that it'll shed light on extremophiles -- lifeforms that survive in extreme environments. Life in Lake Vostok would need adaptions to the oxygen-rich environment, which could include high concentrations of protective enzymes. The conditions in Lake Vostok are very similar to the conditions on Europa and Enceladus, so could also strengthen the case for extraterrestrial life.
(Excerpt) Read more at wired.co.uk ...
Haven’t they been “preparing to penetrate” for several years?
“Who goes there?” John W. Campbell, Jr. 1938 (under the pen name Don A. Stuart).
You might know it better from the movies made from it:
The Thing from Another World (1951, Howard Hawks)
The Thing (1982, John Carpenter).
This has been a controversey for some time because the moment it’s penetrated, it becomes contaminated. They’ve been trying to work out how best to examine it for a while. It’s too bad the Russians are in charge, because I’m sure it will be a messy project.
And why is that, I wonder.
Any ideas as to what could be causing the anomaly?
What kind of camera will they put on the lance as what do they hope to see in blackness unless they also are able to light the area up?
No. But it’s another one of those things where they’re inviting conspiracy theories by not having gotten into the thing a decade ago.
I’ve seen well studied seamounts swing the magnetic compass pretty hard.
Sounds like a joke in there somewhere...............
Not exactly tropical, is this what you meant though?
What I meant to convey, and screwed up, was that it showed signs of having been a tropical environment before it was covered with ice.
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