kong
02-08-2012, 12:46 AM
Prehistoric Lake Vostok unearthed
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A team of Russian scientists says it has unearthed the prehistoric subglacial Lake Vostok, two-and-a-half miles below sea level, opening up an ancient and possibly undiscovered world of life below the surface of the earth.
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Lake Vostok, Sealed in Antarctic Ice, Reached by Russian Drillers
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Reached by Russian Drillers (ABC News)
Prince Albert II of Monaco (3rd L) poses with the scientists of the Russia's research station Vostok near the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility and the South Geomagnetic Pole, in 2009. Experts on Monday raised questions over the scientific benefit and environmental impact of Russia's feat in drilling into a virgin lake under Antarctica's icesheet
The Windmill Islands rise above the ice floe in Vincennes Bay, in 2008. A Russian team has succeeded in drilling through four kilometres (2.5 miles) of ice to the surface of a mythical subglacial Antarctic lake which could hold as yet unknown life forms, reports said Monday.
Word of the possible discovery made a splash on the Web, where a wave of searches on "lake vostok" suddenly surged.
http://img813.imageshack.us/img813/7503/photo132731857666110.jpg
What is it?
Lake Vostok is one of 140 subglacial lakes found under the surface of Antarctica. The overlying layer of ice could be somewhere around 400,000 years old. But the lake water below could be somewhere around 20 million years old. A team of Russian researches have been drilling since January to reach the lake. But attempts to drill down have been made since the lake was discovered in 1996.
What did the Russian scientists accomplish?
The field researchers managed to drill down through approximately 2.5 miles of ice and claim they have hit the subglacial Lake Vostok, a body of water the size of Lake Ontario. John C. Priscu, an Antarctic researcher at Montana State University, says that if the Russians have actually hit the lake, it "opens the doors for ensuing subglacial science." NASA is also following the potential breakthrough, as the climate so far below the earth could offer insight into extraterrestrial life in outer space.
What do the scientists hope to find?
Antarctic researcher Priscu notes that the find could be nothing short of monumental, saying, "If they can confirm there is life in the lake, it will transform our view of Antarctica." He expects to find "unique organisms" in the lake. Mahlon C. Kennicutt II, a professor of oceanography at Texas A&M University who leads Antarctic research group, adds that the lakes beneath ice sheets "may contain sedimentary records of climate change that are found nowhere else on the planet."
In addition to the potential of science, a Russian news agency brought up an odd theory that the site of the discovery was also a secret Nazi base camp built in 1943. However, without more than mere talk of the base, the rumor will remain just that.
What is the meaning of the find?
According to National Geographic, this would be the first time anyone has penetrated a subglacial lake on the frozen continent. Kennicutt adds that looking into the past could open a window to the planet's future: "Clues to how the planet may respond to the continuing impact of humans, particularly fossil fuel emissions and related climate change, are housed in the records of past climate change in Antarctica."
http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/805/20120207t003457z1991132.jpg
A satellite view of Antarctica is seen in this undated NASA handout photo obtained by Reuters February 6, 2012. Russian scientists are close to drilling in to the prehistoric sub-glacier Lake Vostok, which has been trapped under Antarctic ice for 14 million years.
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/4035/20120207t183336z01vos01.jpg
The head of the drilling rig used by the Russian research team to drill to the Vostok underground lake at the Vostock research camp in Antarctica is seen in this September 1, 2007 picture. Russian scientists are close to drilling into the prehistoric sub-glacier Lake Vostok, which has been trapped under Antarctic ice for 14 million years.
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/3725/000hkg924675.jpg
A team of Russian scientists says it has unearthed the prehistoric subglacial Lake Vostok, two-and-a-half miles below sea level, opening up an ancient and possibly undiscovered world of life below the surface of the earth.
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/1520/nclakevostokdm120207wma.jpg
Lake Vostok, Sealed in Antarctic Ice, Reached by Russian Drillers
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/6317/trdv1117605.jpg
Reached by Russian Drillers (ABC News)
Prince Albert II of Monaco (3rd L) poses with the scientists of the Russia's research station Vostok near the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility and the South Geomagnetic Pole, in 2009. Experts on Monday raised questions over the scientific benefit and environmental impact of Russia's feat in drilling into a virgin lake under Antarctica's icesheet
The Windmill Islands rise above the ice floe in Vincennes Bay, in 2008. A Russian team has succeeded in drilling through four kilometres (2.5 miles) of ice to the surface of a mythical subglacial Antarctic lake which could hold as yet unknown life forms, reports said Monday.
Word of the possible discovery made a splash on the Web, where a wave of searches on "lake vostok" suddenly surged.
http://img813.imageshack.us/img813/7503/photo132731857666110.jpg
What is it?
Lake Vostok is one of 140 subglacial lakes found under the surface of Antarctica. The overlying layer of ice could be somewhere around 400,000 years old. But the lake water below could be somewhere around 20 million years old. A team of Russian researches have been drilling since January to reach the lake. But attempts to drill down have been made since the lake was discovered in 1996.
What did the Russian scientists accomplish?
The field researchers managed to drill down through approximately 2.5 miles of ice and claim they have hit the subglacial Lake Vostok, a body of water the size of Lake Ontario. John C. Priscu, an Antarctic researcher at Montana State University, says that if the Russians have actually hit the lake, it "opens the doors for ensuing subglacial science." NASA is also following the potential breakthrough, as the climate so far below the earth could offer insight into extraterrestrial life in outer space.
What do the scientists hope to find?
Antarctic researcher Priscu notes that the find could be nothing short of monumental, saying, "If they can confirm there is life in the lake, it will transform our view of Antarctica." He expects to find "unique organisms" in the lake. Mahlon C. Kennicutt II, a professor of oceanography at Texas A&M University who leads Antarctic research group, adds that the lakes beneath ice sheets "may contain sedimentary records of climate change that are found nowhere else on the planet."
In addition to the potential of science, a Russian news agency brought up an odd theory that the site of the discovery was also a secret Nazi base camp built in 1943. However, without more than mere talk of the base, the rumor will remain just that.
What is the meaning of the find?
According to National Geographic, this would be the first time anyone has penetrated a subglacial lake on the frozen continent. Kennicutt adds that looking into the past could open a window to the planet's future: "Clues to how the planet may respond to the continuing impact of humans, particularly fossil fuel emissions and related climate change, are housed in the records of past climate change in Antarctica."
http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/805/20120207t003457z1991132.jpg
A satellite view of Antarctica is seen in this undated NASA handout photo obtained by Reuters February 6, 2012. Russian scientists are close to drilling in to the prehistoric sub-glacier Lake Vostok, which has been trapped under Antarctic ice for 14 million years.
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/4035/20120207t183336z01vos01.jpg
The head of the drilling rig used by the Russian research team to drill to the Vostok underground lake at the Vostock research camp in Antarctica is seen in this September 1, 2007 picture. Russian scientists are close to drilling into the prehistoric sub-glacier Lake Vostok, which has been trapped under Antarctic ice for 14 million years.