Scientists close to entering Vostok, Antarctica’s biggest subglacial lake

[cleanhippie]

After drilling for two decades through more than two miles of antarctic ice, Russian scientists are on the verge of entering a vast, dark lake that hasn’t been touched by light for more than 20?million years.

Scientists are enormously excited about what life-forms might be found there but are equally worried about contaminating the lake with drilling fluids and bacteria, and the potentially explosive “de-gassing” of a body of water that has especially high concentrations of oxygen and nitrogen.

Reaching Lake Vostok would represent the first direct contact with what scientists now know is a web of more than 200 subglacial lakes in Antarctica — some of which existed when the continent was connected to Australia and was much warmer. They stay liquid because of heat from the core of the planet.

“This is a huge moment for science and exploration, breaking through to this enormous lake that we didn’t even know existed until the 1990s,” said John Priscu, a researcher at Montana State University who has long been involved in antarctic research, including a study of Vostok ice cores.

“If it goes well, a breakthrough opens up a whole new chapter in our understanding of our planet and possibly moons in our solar system and planets far beyond,” he said. “If it doesn’t go well, it casts a pall over the whole effort to explore this wet underside of Antarctica.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/scientists-close-to-entering-vostok-antarcticas-biggest-subglacial-lake/2012/01/27/gIQAbGX0fQ_story.html

Very, very cool. I wonder what new discoveries await?

[Ian David]

1. "All these lakes are yours, except Vostok. Attempt no drillings there." n/t

[cleanhippie]

3. Oh my god, it's full of stars!

[wyldwolf]

2. "I wonder what new discoveries await?" Crashed UFOs (wait! wrong forum!)

[HopeHoops]

5. Maybe they'll find Jimmy Hoffa.

[BadgerKid]

4. "Black oil" alien virus? n/t

[Marnie]

6. Of course once the "seal" of ice is breached, the "Contents" of the lake are forever

contaminated and changed.

As any naturalist or even physicist knows once a natural subject is examined or studied, the very fact that there is a study or examination makes the natural no longer natural.

The question in an instance like this is whether what we will gain is greater that what will forever be lost.
Would it not be better for knowledge's sake to wait until there is a technology than can examine with out breaching the seal, and forever contaminating the suspect and ruining it for future research.

[harmonicon]

7. That's exactly what I'm thinking.

I think this is a huge mistake. Most of the scientific community seemed to be against the project, but I think they should have been more vocal about it.

[eyewall]

8. If they discover anything really far out

we'll probably never hear about it.

But if they unleash a 20 million year old virus,
we'll be the first to know.