2020) and making the model recursive. Located Subglacial Lake Vostok found in the centre of Antarctica is a unique object that is of high interest to scientists from all over the world. The presence of this body of water could be an indicator of other living organisms that are yet to be discovered, which could change our understanding of how life emerges in harsh environments. Please make a tax-deductible gift today. The next challenge after confirming the existence of Lake Vostok was how to actually access its waters. Sun & Moon. Earth. Since the initial and succeeding lake entry projects, all that have been found are sequences of a community of microorganisms identified in the obtained samples. The subglacial Lake Vostok is a well-known giant lake in Eastern Antarctica [1, fig. Bayern Munich Squad / Player List 2020-21-John Dennis G.Thomas. Russian scientists on Saturday dismissed initial reports that they had found a wholly new type of bacteria in a mysterious subglacial lake in Antarctica. could be indicative of life in the lakes waters. Express. Sequences from aerobic, anaerobic, psychrophilic, thermophilic, halophilic, alkaliphilic, acidophilic, desiccation-resistant, autotrophic, and heterotrophic organisms were present, including a number from multicellular eukaryotes.[56]. Scientists suggested that the lake could possess a unique habitat for ancient bacteria with an isolated microbial gene pool containing characteristics developed perhaps 500,000years ago. [77], Last edited on 16 February 2023, at 15:12, point where the ice would become liquid water, "Appeal to the Duma on Lake Vostok, Antarctica", " , XX ", "Lake Vostok drilling in Antarctic 'running out of time', "Secrets of Antarctica's 15-Million Year-Old Lake -A Galaxy Classic", "Russians drill into previously untouched Lake Vostok below Antarctic glacier", "Buried Lake Reached: Lake Vostok Water Retrieved After 14 Million Years", "Hidden Antarctic Lake Spills Its Secrets", "Lake Vostok may boast a thriving ecosystem", "The Geysers of Enceladus - Will Saturn's Moon Reveal a "Second Genesis"? A research review article explains how liquid water can exist in such conditions: Sufficient geothermal heat is generated to raise the temperature of the ice to around 27F. Microbiologist David Pearce of the University of Northumbria in Newcastle, UK, stated that the DNA could simply be contamination from the drilling process, and not representative of Lake Vostok itself. The weighty pressure of the overlying ice changes the melting point of water and keeps the lake liquid despite its below-freezing temperatures, according to World Atlas (opens in new tab). 1st Half 1 - 1. These included sequences indicating the presence of a diverse set of organisms, including some similar to those commonly found in the digestive systems of fish, crustaceans, and annelid worms. (Phys.org)Researchers with Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute have announced that they have successfully retrieved a clean ice core sample from Lake Vostok in Antarctica. Additional bacteria and eukaryotes were reported. As intriguing as it may sound, the report has been shown to be nothing but a science-fiction story made up by the news satire fiction writer C. Michael Forsyth. [20], From this core, specifically from ice that is thought to have formed from lake water freezing onto the base of the ice sheet, extremophile microbes were found, suggesting that the lake water supports life. This constant replenishment from melting ice means the water in the lake may be relatively young, just thousands of years old, according to ice core studies. However, accessing the lakes water is still quite a challenge as the method used to take these two lake extractions may not be the best option in terms of obtaining clean and uncontaminated samples. In general, the taxa were similar to organisms previously described from lakes, brackish water, marine environments, soil, glaciers, ice, lake sediments, deep-sea sediments, deep-sea thermal vents, animals and plants. Aside from this, what makes it intriguing is the possibility of obtaining evidence of life existing within its waters. Lake Vostok Could Be Just Like Europa. [7] Lukin has repeatedly reassured other signatory nations to the Antarctic Treaty System that the drilling will not affect the lake, arguing that on breakthrough, water will rush up the borehole, freeze, and seal the other fluids out. But they also note that Lake Vostok was in contact with the atmosphere, millions of years ago, so a complex network of organisms likely populated the lake during that time. Russian scientists this week finished penetrating more than two miles through the Antarctic ice sheet to Lake Vostok, a huge freshwater lake that has been buried under the ice for millions of years. [1] According to the head of Russian Antarctic Expeditions, Valery Lukin, new equipment was developed by researchers at the Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute that would ensure the lake remains uncontaminated upon intrusion. A huge magnetic anomaly was discovered covering the entire southeast portion, The water in the lake, determined by surface thermal scans ranges from 10C to 18C, clearly indicating a subterranean heat source.. Introduction. That being said, researchers are intrigued by what discoveries, microorganisms perhaps, could be found in the waters of the lake. Lake Vostok, buried under a glacier in Antarctica, is so dark, deep and cold that scientists had considered it a possible model for other planets, a place where nothing could live. Ulaanbaatar - Deren 26.08.2020 Mongolia. Becky Oskin covers Earth science, climate change and space, as well as general science topics. See more current weather. Roughly the size of Lake Ontario, but much deeper in places, more than 3,000 feet, and about four times the volume. A possible new source has come forward with corroborating information about the discovery of a large frozen city two miles under the Antarctic ice, located roughly 16 miles from the geographic South Pole. "To my knowledge, there is no evidence for influx or efflux of water from Lake Vostok," he said. Life found so far in the samples taken from the lake range includes not only prokaryotes and Our model is tested against datasets from Lake Vostok and is used to assess the dD-d18O mass balance of Lake Untersee and evaluate if the lake is in isotopic steady-state. There is always an equally viable alternative explanation, it could be caused by an accumulation of metals.. These lakes, including Lake Vostok, appear to drain and fill slowly. . The south end of the lake may be up to 0.6 miles (1 km) deep, but the northern and southwest corners are comparatively shallow, Davies said. [4] The coalition has asserted that "it would be far preferable to join with other countries to penetrate a smaller and more isolated lake before re-examining whether penetration of Lake Vostok is environmentally defensible. [17] He theorized that the tremendous pressure exerted by the cumulative mass of thousands of vertical meters of ice could decrease the melting point at the lowest portions of the ice sheet to the point where the ice would become liquid water. Since Lake Vostok's discovery, what lifeif anymight exist within its waters has been a topic of extensive speculation. Why is endometriosis so hard to diagnose? [20] Other countries, particularly the United States and Britain, have failed to persuade the Russians not to pierce to the lake until cleaner technologies such as hot-water drilling are available. See today's front and back pages, download the newspaper, order back issues and use the historic Daily Express newspaper archive. Antarctica shock: Bizarre heat source below ice revealed, Moon landing: Incredible unearthed pictures Apollo 11, A magnetic anomaly was spotted below the ice, The anomaly was spotted in East Antarctica, The team drilled down to discover Lake Vostok, Pompeii breakthrough: Incredible new villa exposed, Antarctica still continues to surprise scientitsts, Antarctica shock: Bizarre heat source coming from three miles below ice revealed, Black hole shock: Scientist's dire warning to humans [VIDEO], Asteroid apocalypse: Scientist warns of city-destroying space rock [OPINION], Why Trillion tonne rock hurtling towards Earth was 'bad news' [EXPLAINED], Yellowstone volcano: Warning to half the US over ash cloud revealed, Pompeii:New discovery proves eruption date wrong, Egypt-approaching locust swarm sparks Bible apocalypse fears. In the Nineties, scientists drilled down into this area to discover what is known as Lake Vostok. Such items are typical signatures of biological processes, the lake, therefore, has all the ingredients of an incredible scientific find a completely isolated ecosystem, water, heat, respired gases and current biological activity. Russian and British scientists delineated the lake in by integrating a variety of data, including airborne ice-penetrating radar imaging observations and space-based radar altimetry, and the discovery of the lake was published in the science journal Nature on 20 June 1996. A cross-section of Lake Vostok shows how ice accumulates above the lake, and a list of some of the different organisms discovered in the ice core. GRACE data comes from , accessed 28 January 2020. Centre for Polar Observation & Modelling glaciologists propose that many of the subglacial lakes of Antarctica are at least temporarily interconnected. The team from Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) have been drilling for weeks in an effort to reach isolated Lake Vostok, a vast, dark body of water hidden 13,000 ft. below . [58] They found that the basal ice contained an almost completely different community of organisms compared to those found in the lake accretion ice, indicating that they signified two completely different ecosystems. The team found 3,507 unique gene sequences, and approximately 94% of the sequences were from bacteria and 6% were from Eukarya. It is without a doubt that Antarctica has some of the most extreme weather conditions in the world. Core samples taken by the Russians have revealed the presence of microbes, nutrients and various gases like methane embedded in the clear refrozen lake water just above the dome. The first samples from Lake Vostok were taken in February 2012, and researchers took more samples in January 2015. Bulk up on protein, animal study suggests, A Tiny Window Opens Into Lake Vostok, While a Vast Continent Awaits. She earned a master's degree in geology from Caltech, a bachelor's degree from Washington State University, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. The Vostok 2020 boasts two awesome creative tools to expand the heights of its soundscaping capabilities: a joystick and a real spring reverb. single-celled eukaryotes but also microorganisms known to be associated with multicellular eukaryotes. The lake is roughly 149 miles (240 km) long and 31 miles (50 km) wide, and hundreds of meters deep, according to a blog authored by glacial scientist Bethan Davies (opens in new tab). The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition has argued that this manner of drilling is a profoundly misguided step which endangers Lake Vostok and other subglacial lakes in Antarctica (which some scientists are convinced are inter-linked with Lake Vostok). 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