February 7, 2012
After over 20 years of drilling through two miles of glacial ice, Russian scientists have reportedly penetrated the surface of Antarctica’s largest subglacial lake.
Lake Vostok, which hasn’t been touched by light in millions of years, has been a target of scientific exploration because of the unique lifeforms it may contain.
According to Wired, the lake likely contains 50 times the amount of oxygen found in a typical freshwater lake. The conditions in the lake “are thought to be similar” to Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s Enceladus.
This article was posted: Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 4:02 am