British scientists revealed during the recent meeting of the European Geosciences Union in Vienna, that there is a hidden lake that is 87 miles long and 12 miles wide underneath Princess Elizabeth Land, a part of Antarctica. This new finding could indicate that there are unique life forms isolated for millions of years.
Even though the British scientists have been investigated this area for a long time, it was not until scientists from China and the United Stated, who were collaborating in the study, flew over the region and penetrated the ice with a radar to gather data about what may be under the land, that the discovery was made, confirming the existence of a cavern and a lake.
“We’ve seen these strange, linear channels on the surface, and are inferring these are above massive, 1,000-kilometer-long channels, and there’s a relatively large subglacial lake there too,” said Dr. Martin Siegert, a member of the lake investigating team, of Imperial College London, as reported by The New Scientist.
The mysterious new hidden lake
It seems like the lake is around 100 kilometers long and 10 kilometers wide, and also has a ribbon shape. Regarding the canyon also found, the system is most likely to be 1,000 kilometers long and a kilometer deep, according to Dr. Siegert.
The potential new lake is located 100 kilometers from the research base, which makes it easier to gather information about the subglacial lake, since they can trace DNA, microbes, and bacteria, and, later on, this will help researchers understand ecosystems in Antarctica. The researchers are interested in finding out whether the lake has any type of life form and biology.
More subglacial lakes have been found
This isn’t the first lake scientists have found underneath glaciers. The Lake Vostok was recently discovered, being another subglacial lake in Antarctica, and it has been a source of scientific discoveries since it offered a range of unusual bacteria and microbes. This lake is larger than the new discovery, being 160 by 30 miles and is covered in nearly 13,000 feet of ice. In 2012, Russian scientists drilled a borehole into Lake Vostok, finding evidence of unusual life.
There are other subglacial lakes, like Lake Whillans and Lake Ellsworth. In 2013, American scientist drilled over the 700 meters into Lake Whillans, finding thousands of different types of microbes as well as crustaceans and fish.
Source: The New Scientist