Russian Scientists Near Breakthrough Into Antarctica Sub-glacial Lake
Posted: Saturday, February 12, 2011
by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html
There are reportedly 150 sub-glacial lakes beneath the ice in Antarctica, one of which is Lake Vostok. The Russian scientists say that the lake has been buried beneath the ice for 15 million years and they hope to find prehistoric or unknown life forms.
They are rushing to break through the ice before the winter sets in, which is swiftly approaching. They say it gets too cold in the winter to survive and work there. It is here that the coldest temperature on this earth has ever been recorded at -89.2 Celsius which is approximately -128.6 Fahrenheit. Alexei Turkeyev, chief of the Russian polar Vostok Station told reporters they were on the verge of breaking through, lacking only about 5 meters and expecting to be to the lake very soon.
The scientists think they will find different life forms in the depths of the lake which may offer valuable information as to what type of world existed before the ice age. " It's like exploring an alien planet where no one has been before. We don't know what we'll find," said Valery Lukin of Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in St. Petersburg, which oversees the expedition. (Moscow Times: 2-10-2011)
Lake Vostok is the largest, deepest and most isolated of all the 150 sub-glacial lakes in Antarctica and they also say it is supersaturated with oxygen, unlike any other known environment on earth.
The United States and Britain have other expeditions for other lakes on Antarctica. One scientist says that it is very exciting and has a lot of unknowns. He asks how do they go into this unknown environment without spoiling it, or bringing out some unknown virus, etc., and he adds that “ Once we do it, there is no going back. Once it is touched, it is touched forever”.
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Hmmm.... this article was great, daddy. It provokes thought, doesn't it? Should we be doing things like this? What if there IS some unknown virus unearthed? One that spreads like wildfire and has no cure!? What then? (My over-active imagination at work again!) Love you, Linda
They thought the same thing about going into space. I doubt there is any chance of such a virus. I strongly doubt that they'll find anything much dramatic. There may be some underwater creatures which they have never seen before. They are constantly running into a new one in some strange place. It is simply another way to spend their grant dollars, many of which come from taxpayers. (You see how grouchy one gets when he is old.) Daddy
Very interesting article Joel
This is amazing. 15 million years! It's kind of sad that they're going in. That lake will eventually get spoiled, probably.
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