Posted on 12/31/2018 10:52:11 PM PST by BenLurkin
Mercer Subglacial Lake is a hydraulically active lake that lies more 1000m beneath the Whillans Ice Plain, a fast moving section of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
The pool of water, known as Subglacial Lake Mercer, measures nearly 62 square miles, was discovered more than a decade ago through satellite images but has never been explored.
It is one of 400 lakes beneath the Antarctic ice - and experts say any life there could raise hopes of finding similar organisms deep inside Mars or on the ice-covered moons of Jupiter and Saturn.
The Subglacial Antarctic Lakes Scientific Access (SALSA) team said it took two days of drilling to reach Mercer Subglacial Lake on Dec. 26.
The team melted their way through an enormous frozen river with a high-pressure, hot-water drill.
A team of researchers — which includes 45 scientists, drillers and other staff members — with the organization were able to send an instrument down a borehole the next day.
They will also lower a remotely operated vehicle down the hole to capture more footage and take more extensive measurements.
It is hoped the submersible’s three video cameras might capture images of animals that live in the dark water.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
They are ice fishing with a 3,500ft line.
My gastroenterologist gave me a gallon of lukewarm MiraLAX and hit what felt like the two mile mark about twelve hours later. Next time, I’m gonna freak him out and hide one of those latex chest-burster props from Alien up there the night before.
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