Race to Study Glacial Lakes
There are more than 150 sub-glacial lakes in Antarctica, now a race is on to study these lakes. Thick caps of ice on the lakes conceal years and years of scientific evidence. There are life forms in the lakes that have adapted to conditions such as complete darkness, high water pressure and isolation from the atmosphere.
Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey and Edinburgh University and Northumbria University will study Lake Ellsworth. The research will be done over a period of 5 months and they will be working in harsh conditions.
The competition to be the first team to explore a sub-glacial lake includes a team from Italy which is to explore Lake Concordia; and a team from Russia that plans to extract water from Lake Vostok, the largest sub-glacial lake in the region.
October 10, 2007 7:16 AM | Category: Technology