Lake Vostek

[Toad]

From the John Wheeler thread...

In other news, Russia is close to drilling into the Lake Vostek dome.

Forgive my ignorance, but you piequed my curiosity. Aside from the technical drilling and scientific aspect of this, is there something else I'm missing from this event? It seemed you found this meaningfull beyond this first time event. ??? Or am I reading more into it than I should? Thanks.

[catfish]

Well, its the first time this has happened. Seems they finally found a way to do this with contamination of the lake. It seems we have to wait til next season to gather the sample though. I can't wait, this is very exciting.

[catfish]

Lake Vostok, which has been sealed off from the world for 14
million years, is
about to be penetrated by a Russian drill bit.
The lake, which lies four kilometres below the icy surface of
Antarctica, is unique in that it's been completely isolated from
the other 150
subglacial lakes on the continent for such a long time. It's
also oligotropic, meaning that it's supersaturated with
oxygen -- levels of the element are 50 times higher than those
found in most typical freshwater lakes.
Since 1990, the Arctic and Antarctic
Research Institute in St Petersberg in Russia has been drilling
through the ice to reach the lake, but fears of contamination of
the ecosystem in the lake have stopped the process multiple times,
most notably in 1998 when the drills were turned off for almost
eight years.
Now, the team has satisfied the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat,
which safeguards the continent's environment, that it's come up
with a technique to sample the lake without contaminating it.
Valery Lukin
told New Scientist: "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." The next
season, the team will bore into that frozen water to recover a
sample whose contents can then be analysed.
The drill bit currently sits less than 100 metres above
the lake. Once it reaches 20-30 metres, the mechanical drill bit
will be replaced with a thermal lance that's equipped with a
camera. Time is short, however. It's possible that the drillers
won't be able to reach the water before the end of the current
Antarctic summer, and they'll need to wait another year before
the process can continue.
When the sample can be recovered, however, it's hoped that
it'll shed light on extremophiles -- lifeforms that survive in
extreme environments. Life in Lake Vostok would need adaptions
to the oxygen-rich environment, which could include high
concentrations of protective enzymes. The conditions in Lake Vostok
are very similar to the conditions on Europa and Enceladus, so
could also strengthen
the case for extraterrestrial life.