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http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/russians-drill-into-previously-untouched-lake-vostok-below-antarctica/2012/02/06/gIQAGziNuQ_story.html?tid=pm_national_pop
Russians drill into previously untouched Lake Vostok below Antarctic glacier
By Marc Kaufman, Tuesday, February 7, 5:38 AM
Russian scientists have drilled into the vast, dark and never-before-touched Lake Vostok 2.2 miles below the surface of Antarctica, according to a source quoted Monday by Ria Novosti, a state-run Russian news agency.
“Yesterday, our scientists stopped drilling at the depth of 3,768 meters and reached the surface of the subglacial lake,” the source was quoted as saying. The news agency described the source as saying the team had “finally managed to pierce” the ice sheet into Vostok.
It has taken the Russians more than 20 years to drill into the lake, operating in some of the most brutal weather conditions in the world. Their reported accomplishment comes just as the Antarctic summer ends at Vostok, and the cold becomes so great that machinery can’t be operated and airplanes can’t come in or out of the area.
[Previously: Scientists excited about what life-forms might be in Vostok, Antarctica’s big subglacial lake]
The Russian effort has created great scientific excitement about potentially learning some of the long-held secrets of the largest sub-glacial lake in Antarctica, a body of water that wasn’t discovered until the mid-1990s and that is the world’s third-largest lake by volume.
But the long effort has also been filled with controversy over some of the chemicals and techniques used in the Russian drilling. Many have been concerned that pristine Lake Vostok — which hasn’t felt the wind for over 20 million years and may well be home to previously unknown life forms — could be contaminated by the kerosene, Freon and other materials being used in the drilling.
John Priscu of Montana State University, an Antarctica specialist who has been in periodic contact with the Russian team, said that rumors are flying that the lake was indeed pierced, but that no information has been formally announced.
“If they were successful, their efforts will transform the way we do science in Antarctica and provide us with an entirely new view of what exists under the vast Antarctic ice sheet,” he said in an e-mail.
Many scientists see Vostok as not only a last frontier on Earth, but also a potential gold mine for learning about possible conditions on Jupiter’s moon Europa or Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Each is covered in a thick shell of ice but also has liquid water beneath it warmed by either the inner heat of the moon or by tidal forces.
Both the United States and United Kingdom will begin drilling later this year into small subglacial Antarctic lakes. Scientists now estimate there are some 200 of these lakes beneath the Antarctic ice sheet.
The research has importance for not only astrobiology — the search for life beyond Earth — but also for the dynamics of climate change. Antarctica holds about 70 percent of the planet’s fresh water as ice and subglacial liquid, and understanding whether and how it is changing is key to understanding possible future rises in global sea levels.
The Russians’ plan for this year’s Lake Vostok expedition has been to use a thermal drill on the last 30 feet of ice and then pierce the lake and, in effect, suck some of the water a short way up the borehole. The ice will then freeze and be extracted late this year.
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