Lake Vostok and Antarctic subglacial lakes
Lago Vostok y los lagos subglaciales antárticos
- Date
- 1996 / 2012 · confidence high
- Place
- Lake Vostok, East Antarctica
- Credited to
- Andrei Kapitsa, Gordon Robin, Jeff Ridley; airborne radar and ERS-1 altimetry (Kapitsa et al., 1996)
- People
- 👤 Andrey Kapitsa1931–2011👤 Jeff Ridley
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Beneath 4 km of ice a lake 250 km long was detected, isolated for millions of years, one of the largest in the world. More than 400 subglacial lakes have since been identified, with implications for ice dynamics and life in extreme environments.
Coordinates of the lake, beneath Vostok Station. The Russians reached its surface in 2012, amid doubts over contamination from the drilling fluid.
What it led to
- Exploration of isolated ecosystems (Lake Whillans, 2013)
- Analogies for Europa and Enceladus
- Understanding of Antarctic ice flow
Built on
- Vostok ice cores
- Ice-penetrating radar (1960s)
Made possible
- Hot-water drilling in ice
- Airborne radio echo sounder