By Clare Tweedy
Hidden beneath a sheet of ice at least two miles thick, Lake Ellsworth will soon be explored for the first time. The lake, in western Antarctica, is thought to have been buried under the ice around half a million years ago. Despite the lack of sunlight reaching the sub-glacial world, it is expected that microbes will be found in the waters, and these will provide information on how life can survive in extreme conditions. The lake itself is estimated to be around the size of England’s Lake Windermere.
The project, which is estimated to cost around 8 million pounds, will soon begin by drilling down through the ice. Combined with water heated to 90 degrees C, the ice will be melted and a sampling machine will be passed down into the lake. Years of planning have gone into the mere six day timeframe that the project is expected to last for, but the results are expected to be analysed in a much shorter time.
No comments:
Post a Comment