Lake Vostok
Earth is more interesting than most of us know -- and in our short time on this planet, humans have only really scratched the surface in our exploration. Take Lake Vostok for example. It is the largest, but only one, of more than 140 subglacial lakes to be found under Antarctica. Yes, that's right. The relatively unexplored continent, has more that is not explored. According to radar data, Lake Vostok is similar in size to Lake Ontario, only it is below 4,000 metres of ice. The subglacial lakes may be connected via a network of subglacial rivers as well.
Because of the pressure and geothermal heat, the water is liquid at around -3 °C. It is also an oligotrophic extreme environment. At that depth, cut off from the rest of the world for the last 500,000 to a million years, organisms that live there have been isolated, to say the least. It's expected that the environment, with oxygen levels 50 times higher than those in ordinary freshwater lakes, would have evolved a unique set of organisms.
Currently, a Russian team is 100 metres away from Lake Vostok. They've been drilling towards the lake for the last couple of years. To keep their drills drilling, the team has been flooding the boreholes with freon and aircraft fuel. There are concerns (to say the least) that the pristine environment of Lake Vostok will be another one that humans will pollute when they reach there. The Russians think they can reach the lake without making a mess of it. If the past is any indication, they will not succeed. Contaminants will most likely be introduced in the lake.
Lake Vostok is of interest to science beyond the obvious. The lake represents conditions theorized to exist on Jupiter's satellite, Europa, and Saturn's Enceladus. If the Russians succeed and find life in Lake Vostok, the possibility will be strengthened that similar life may exist on Europa and Enceladus.
It's just not worth the sacrifice of Lake Vostok, however.
Because of the pressure and geothermal heat, the water is liquid at around -3 °C. It is also an oligotrophic extreme environment. At that depth, cut off from the rest of the world for the last 500,000 to a million years, organisms that live there have been isolated, to say the least. It's expected that the environment, with oxygen levels 50 times higher than those in ordinary freshwater lakes, would have evolved a unique set of organisms.
Currently, a Russian team is 100 metres away from Lake Vostok. They've been drilling towards the lake for the last couple of years. To keep their drills drilling, the team has been flooding the boreholes with freon and aircraft fuel. There are concerns (to say the least) that the pristine environment of Lake Vostok will be another one that humans will pollute when they reach there. The Russians think they can reach the lake without making a mess of it. If the past is any indication, they will not succeed. Contaminants will most likely be introduced in the lake.
Lake Vostok is of interest to science beyond the obvious. The lake represents conditions theorized to exist on Jupiter's satellite, Europa, and Saturn's Enceladus. If the Russians succeed and find life in Lake Vostok, the possibility will be strengthened that similar life may exist on Europa and Enceladus.
It's just not worth the sacrifice of Lake Vostok, however.
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