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Researchers have uncovered a complex subglacial system miles under the ice where rivers larger than the Amazon link a series of "lake districts," which may teem with mineral-hungry microbes.
The lakes—isolated from the atmosphere for more than 30 million years—ebb and flow as they empty into the polar sea. They stay fluid because the ice sheet above acts like a gigantic down blanket, trapping heat rising from Earth's interior.
Some of these mysteries might be cracked within months, when Russian scientists drill down 2.3 miles (3.8 kilometers) to reach Lake Vostok. The giant lake, 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) beneath eastern Antarctica, was found in 1996 using satellite imagery and specialized radar technology.
If successful, the team will become the first to sample water from the lake.
But if hydrothermal vents are found in Lake Vostok that resemble energy-rich, biodiverse vents in the deep ocean, higher-order organisms could be possible, he added.
Originally posted by mojo4sale
Some of these mysteries might be cracked within months, when Russian scientists drill down 2.3 miles (3.8 kilometers) to reach Lake Vostok. The giant lake, 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) beneath eastern Antarctica, was found in 1996 using satellite imagery and specialized radar technology.
If successful, the team will become the first to sample water from the lake.
But if hydrothermal vents are found in Lake Vostok that resemble energy-rich, biodiverse vents in the deep ocean, higher-order organisms could be possible, he added.