Topic: The Russians are about to drill into a 14 million year old lake in Antarctica.
Ks !KansasxqvM started this discussion 14 years ago #16,773
tl;dr = If life was ever down there (extremely likely) it has spent 14 million years evolving in an alien environment with much more oxygen then our own. Coincidence this is happening in 2012? I hope so. ;)
For 14 million years, Antarctica's vast Lake Vostok has remained tantalisingly sealed off from the rest of the world, hidden under 4 kilometres of ice.
What unique forms of life might have evolved in the hidden depths?
After years of speculation we are about to find out, as a Russian drill nears the lake. The Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, the body set up to preserve the continent, has approved the comprehensive environmental evaluation carried out to ensure the reservoir is not polluted. Researchers from Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) in St Petersburg expect to reach the water in late January.
The AARI's Valery Lukin says they have devised a clever method for sampling the lake without contaminating it. "Once the lake is reached, the water pressure will push the working body and the drilling fluid upwards in the borehole, and then freeze again," Lukin says. The following season, the team will go back to bore in that frozen water, take the sample out and analyse its contents.
"The Russians really did a good job in giving answers to all the fears raised that their actions would contaminate this unexplored environment," says Manfred Reinke, head of the ATS.
Unknown life?
Covering an area of 16 square kilometres, and reaching down 1050 metres, Lake Vostok is isolated from the other 150 subglacial lakes found in Antarctica. Anything living in the lake is either very old, or – potentially – an unknown form of life.
The Russian science team based at Vostok station have been ready to drill into ice above the lake since 1998. But the ATS wouldn't give the go-ahead until it was satisfied that a thorough environmental assessment had been conducted to avoid any pollution of the pristine reservoir.
"The bottom of the new borehole lies at 3650 metres, more or less 100 metres above the lake," says Lukin. "Beginning late December, we will first use a mechanical drill and the usual kerosene-freon to reach 3725 metres. Then, a newly developed thermal drill head, using a clean silicon-oil fluid and equipped with a camera, will go through the last 20 to 30 metres of ice."
Yves Frenot of the French Polar Institute Paul Emile Victor in Brest, France, doubts the Russians will penetrate the lake during this Antarctic summer. "In respect to the Antarctic Treaty, they should wait 60 days after having submitted their CEE, which would bring them almost to the end of the Antarctic season."
Lukin admits time is short but says that since the exact location of the ice-water boundary is not known, "the breakthrough could well happen in a few weeks."
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19918-mysteries-of-lake-vostok-on-brink-of-discovery.html
(Edited 1 minute later.)
TheSheep !kJ.A4PF7.k joined in and replied with this 14 years ago, 33 minutes later[^] [v] #286,787
> Then, a newly developed thermal drill head, using a clean silicon-oil fluid and equipped with a camera, will go through the last 20 to 30 metres of ice.
How do they know that silicon-oil isn't to the creatures bellow as deadly as for example botox to us. I mean, just cause it does nothing to us you can't know I won't do shit to species that evolved in a different environment in maybe a completely different way than us. They never got in contact with it... etc. etc. it's stupid, but I'm all in for drilling it, hope they find something mind blowing :D
How do they know that silicon-oil isn't to the creatures bellow as deadly as for example botox to us. I mean, just cause it does nothing to us you can't know I won't do shit to species that evolved in a different environment in maybe a completely different way than us. They never got in contact with it... etc. etc. it's stupid, but I'm all in for drilling it, hope they find something mind blowing :D
Ks !KansasxqvM (OP) replied with this 14 years ago, 3 minutes later, 37 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #286,788
@previous (TheSheep !kJ.A4PF7.k)
> hope they find something mind blowing
They probably won't find much really, there is no light down there... maybe no source of food at all. I first heard about this project 10 years ago, or more. I am excited to see what comes out of it. It's live science porn.
> hope they find something mind blowing
They probably won't find much really, there is no light down there... maybe no source of food at all. I first heard about this project 10 years ago, or more. I am excited to see what comes out of it. It's live science porn.
TheSheep !kJ.A4PF7.k replied with this 14 years ago, 19 minutes later, 57 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #286,790
@previous (Ks !KansasxqvM)
If even the simplest forms were down there for 14 million years they had time to evolve into some self illuminating shit that perhaps uses water to fule themselves? Or maybe methane or who knows what the fuck is also in that water. It's already known that some shit doesn't need oxygen to live. And 14 million years sounds like enough to evolve into such a form :D
If even the simplest forms were down there for 14 million years they had time to evolve into some self illuminating shit that perhaps uses water to fule themselves? Or maybe methane or who knows what the fuck is also in that water. It's already known that some shit doesn't need oxygen to live. And 14 million years sounds like enough to evolve into such a form :D
Anonymous C joined in and replied with this 14 years ago, 12 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #286,792
Here's hoping they uncover vast cities of basalt and mysterious cone-shaped beings.
Ks !KansasxqvM (OP) replied with this 14 years ago, 1 minute later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #286,793
@286,790 (TheSheep !kJ.A4PF7.k)
Yeah there is likely to be some kind of life down there, it's almost impossible that there is not something. But probably nothing big enough to be studied without a microscope. Fact is though, nobody knows. For all we know there is intelligent life down there lol, it's unlikely but totally possible.
Yeah there is likely to be some kind of life down there, it's almost impossible that there is not something. But probably nothing big enough to be studied without a microscope. Fact is though, nobody knows. For all we know there is intelligent life down there lol, it's unlikely but totally possible.
green !6PPj7P5Iag joined in and replied with this 14 years ago, 31 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #286,800
Has to be said. In russia, lake drills you.
Killer Lettuce !!iNo3FkiZx joined in and replied with this 14 years ago, 8 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #286,809
Let's hope this goes off without any incidents.