Russia poised to breach mysterious Antarctic lake

Russia poised to breach mysterious Antarctic lake

www.newsdaily.com

Lake Vostok, about the size of Lake Baikal in Siberia, is the largest, deepest and most isolated of Antarctica's 150 subglacial lakes. It is supersaturated with oxygen, resembling no other known environment on Earth.

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Could be prehistoric bacteria in there way beyond anything we're ready for but thats not what worry's me.. What worry's me is how'd Russia become the country to attempt something so Amazingly Fragile and Important..what if the lakes like a beer right on the verge of freezing??What if when they crack the seal disturbing the environment in freezes solid.. This shoulda been a world project in my opinion..

www.newsdaily.com
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Originally posted by ArieZ


Could be prehistoric bacteria in there way beyond anything we're ready for but thats not what worry's me.. What worry's me is how'd Russia become the country to attempt something so Amazingly Fragile and Important..what if the lakes like a beer right on the verge of freezing??What if when they crack the seal disturbing the environment in freezes solid.. This shoulda been a world project in my opinion..

www.newsdaily.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

How would it freeze?
at that depth the temps are not that cold

Let's hope they have adequately overcome the sterilisation problems that halted the project in the first place.

They have been very close for a number of years now, but afraid to make the final step, for fear their equipment would contaminate the reservoir.

Can't wait to see what they find, one of planet Earth's last mysteries!

The borehole, pumped full of Kerosene and Freon to keep it from freezing shut, hangs poised over the pristine lake. The explorers now face the question: How do we go where no one has gone before without spoiling it or bringing back some foreign virus?

Hasn't this been the status for several years now?
Have we not found a way to break trough the remaining 5M without polluting the lake?
How about a melt probe with a ROV inside? I wonder what the technical challenges of doing something like that are...

i wonder what kind of life is down there, prehistoric or nothing at all.

Here's an awesome documentary I watched a few years ago. Part four has a section on NASA overcoming the contamination problem. It was largely theoretical then but I imagine they have invested the time and money into the project now.

I honestly didnt know that we've been this close for sometime I just read it today and the date was current so figured id post it..but i guess thats the case sorry about that...any ways as to my freezing thought i was just wondering if its possible because I've seen water and other liquids that are below freezing but still in liquid state but when something disturbs the molecular structure they lock together turning to solid I.E. Ice or whatever the solid form may be called

Originally posted by ArieZ
What worry's me is how'd Russia become the country to attempt something so Amazingly Fragile and Important..what if the lakes like a beer right on the verge of freezing??What if when they crack the seal disturbing the environment in freezes solid.. This shoulda been a world project in my opinion..

Ummm because the Lake is underneath Vostok Base? a Russian Base since after WWII?

And it is an international project Just google Vostok ice core samples

Ice Core Data Index
www.ncdc.noaa.gov...

Exotic microbes discovered near Lake Vostok - NASA Science
science.nasa.gov...


Here is a graph of global temperatures taken from the core samples



That's right... forget global warming and stock up on blankets, food and firewood

how exciting ,,im looking forward to their findings

They've definitely sorted it. It took them years to figure out. I read about it a while ago and can't remember the exact details bet the drill has been 100 feet from breaking through for a long time. They now plan to use the surge of pressure when they break through to fill the borehole with its own liquid, which will in turn freeze, thus resealing the lake. They will then examine the liquid which was expelled during the initial breakthrough. By the way I'm ex GLP, hi to everyone on this site, I'm impressed.

Originally posted by laterallateral
Hasn't this been the status for several years now?
Have we not found a way to break trough the remaining 5M without polluting the lake?

Yeah the Russians filled the drill core with fuel oil to keep it from freezing and there is no way to drain it all out

How about a melt probe with a ROV inside? I wonder what the technical challenges of doing something like that are..

Already in the works

NASA ENDURANCE probe... testing it for final use on the Moon EUROPA

Underwater Robot Helps NASA Explore Europa
www.space.com...

f all goes well, tests will continue in a permanently frozen lake in Antarctica later this year.

www.space.com...

Space submersible gets Antarctic test



www.cosmosmagazine.com...

ENDURANCE Project Taking Icy Test Dive
astrobiology.nasa.gov...

In 1998, when water was only about 130 metres away, a deep drilling operation was suspended, because the world’s scientific community became concerned over the possible pollution of the relict lake. As a result, safe technologies were worked out in St. Petersburg, and in 2005 the works over Lake Vostok resumed. In October of 2007 a new break followed when an accident occurred at the depth of 3,668 metres.

english.ruvr.ru...

This is cool, because it's straight out of sci-fi! Life imiates art! But hopefully, not the part where a shapeshifting monster is set loose

Seriously though, there are chances of finding ancient preserved lifeforms such as bacteria down there, maybe bigger. Things that may yield new medical advances... anything, which is why this is so tantalising.

Originally posted by Soulsofwe
Seriously though, there are chances of finding ancient preserved lifeforms such as bacteria down there, maybe bigger. Things that may yield new medical advances... anything, which is why this is so tantalising.

So okay... these bacteria have not seen the light of day for 420,000 plus years. No one on Earth is immune to them...

Anyone remember when they dug up that hole and released Legionnaires' disease that killed a whole bunch of people? fortunately for us that one was not contagious nor spread in air... it was in the WATER

Yeah go ahead scientists... drag out them bugs and see how they thrive today

"What is clearly going on is that when microorganisms freeze, they shut down and go into this anabiotic state," Hoover explained. Anabiotic means alive but inactive, like suspended animation. Russian scientists have been able to revive and culture bacteria, yeast, fungi, and other microbes found in ice cores.

science.nasa.gov...

WAY TO GO NASA

:shk:

reply to post by ArieZ


I wonder how many years until the next inter glacial. Vostok has already revealed that we are at the end of one and I look forward to the new findings.

I personally would like to see the probe sent down and somehow 'plug' the bore hole and watch, look and study the lake prior to bringing anything back up.
A live video feed to tv would make them millions.

There after my ship i thought it would be safe down there guess not

Originally posted by zorgon

Here is a graph of global temperatures taken from the core samples



That's right... forget global warming and stock up on blankets, food and firewood

Yup a shockingly interesting graph, I feel a strong pull to move nearer to the equator or at the very least prepare to.

WOW, they are worried about contamination but yet they fill the hole with fuel oil and now don't know how to get it out ?.........here Homer lite this match so I can see where the gas goes.

Hope they stop to think how much pressure the water could be under, the ice is 4km thick. I think when they break through, the fuel oil coming out will not be a problem, it could be shot out under pressure from the water making one hell of a mess.

The temperature of this water down there is 55 -65 degrees F!
That means its quite warm, and must be heated from below somehow.
There is a large airpocket above the lake.
It contains methane as well as other gasses from the exhalations of the life therein contained.
The drill should break trough into open air not water, and there will be no shooting fountain of water or oil.
The oil will drain into the lake however they work it, just the quantity is in question.....
There is also a huge magnetic anomaly under the lakes other end (from the vostock station)
Some have theorised it may be a buried city.
Much more anomalous stuff needs co relating from what i can tell.There is too much information scatter with other countries involved in the research.