Russia drills through 4 km of ice to reach ‘mythical’ subglacial lake
A Russian team has succeeded in drilling through four kilometres of ice to the surface of a mythical subglacial Antarctic lake which could hold as yet unknown life forms, reports said Monday.
Lake Vostok is the largest subglacial lake in Antarctica and scientists want to study its eco-system which has been isolated for hundreds of thousands of years under the ice in the hope of finding previously unknown microbiological life forms.
“Because the lower layer was formed 400,000 years ago, from the composition of the gas it is possible to judge the gas composition in the atmosphere 400,000 years ago and during the time that has passed since the formation of the lake,” Sergei Lesenkov, spokesman for the Arctic and Antarctic Scientific Research Institute said.
“From there, it is possible to identify and forecast certain climatic changes in the future. This is very important.” (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)