Subglacial Lake Vostok cracked for a second time

New Scientist ^ | 03 February 2015 | by Catherine Brahic

[Fred Nerks]

They've cracked it - again! A Russian team of ice explorers has broken through to a lake buried beneath nearly 4 kilometres of Antarctic ice. The lake has been isolated from the surface for 15 million years and could hold extreme forms of life never seen before, perhaps even offering clues as to what life on other planets might look like. Lake Vostok is Antarctica's largest subglacial lake. It was reached once before in 2012, when a Russian team finished drilling a hole some 3770 metres down to its surface. They claimed that water samples they obtained from this borehole contained DNA that was unlike known bacteria, suggesting they may have found an unusual native species. But the find is controversial, not least because the samples were contaminated with fluid used to aid drilling. The second attempt reached the lake surface at 5.12 pm on 25 January. The team used the same borehole down to 3400 metres below the surface, after which the holes diverge. This time, the team says they proceeded with extreme caution and are confident that the new samples they retrieved are pristine lake water. Using information on the lake's pressure and depth, collected in 2012, they calculated how slowly they needed to raise the drill to avoid a piston effect, whereby lake water suddenly surges upwards and mixes with drilling fluids, which is what happened last time. The team was led by Vladimir Lipenkov of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute and Nikolay Vasiliev of the National Mineral Resources University, both in St Petersberg.

[Vendome]

True

[Bobalu]

[Beowulf9]

Nessie?;)

[Vendome]

Kewel

Wuz 1/2 expecting someone to post Langoliers...

[lapsus calami]

 

But got Hellraiser, the aquatic edition

 

 

"The Lake, you opened it, we come forth..."

 

[KarlInOhio]

Paging John Carpenter. John Carpenter please pick up the Antarctic white courtesy phone.

[Viking2002]

What movie is that from?

[BenLurkin]

TV show called “helix”

[Talisker]

American liberals are wringing their hands about contamination, while the Russians are probably pulling up sturgeon from the thing and having a fish fry.

[Viking2002]

Oh, OK. SyFy. I tried to get into it, but work got in the way. I think it’s on Netflix now. Is it any good?

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

What’s the story behind the pic?

[Vendome]

Dunno.

I was looking for something else and it seemed apt...

[Vendome]

Okay, found it.

It’s some guy that does underwater sculptures.

Jason DeCaires Taylor

[Vendome]

[Vendome]

[762X51]

There was an X Files episode about this. It was called Ice. Nothing good can come from this.

[Vendome]

I remember hearing about this.

Some friends told me about this off the coast of Cancun.

I hate Cancun but I love the water and my friends told me I should dive and see this place but after I dive across the way in Cozumel and the Isle of Mujer.

I’m going back next winter and I’ll remember to do this...

[Vendome]

Forgot

here is the link:
http://www.underwatersculpture.com/

Really beautiful

[BenLurkin]

I stopped watching after one or two episodes in the first season.

[SaraJohnson]

I would love to know what’s down there too, but putting the Russians in charge of making sure its done right is like asking a orangutan to put away your china.

---

You are funny. That’s so true.