Just woww..I have not heard or seen this before...
Found it today! Obviously I have to Thanks to Realand Productions for produced
such an amazing video. Absolutely love it!
K N O W I N G Y O U R S E L F T H E N E W C O M E R
Giant ice lake found on Mars
This is a giant patch of frozen water inside an unnamed impact crater on Mars. The existence of this water-ice patch on Mars makes life a more likely possibility and raises the prospect that past or present life will one day be detected.
The crater with ice disc is on the Vastitas Borealis, a broad plain that covers much of Mars’s far northern latitudes. The crater is 35 km wide, with a maximum depth of about 2 km. The image was taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express. Scientists believe the water-ice is present all year round because the temperature and pressure are not sufficient to allow it to change states and vaporise into the atmosphere. It is not frozen carbon dioxide, because this type of ice had already disappeared from the north polar cap by the time this image was taken
source and source
2012: THE RETURN OF CAMELOT
DAVID WILCOCK at the Project Camelot Awake and Aware Conference, Los Angeles, Sept 2009
-- DAVID WILCOCK's wonderful and inspired closing presentation at the Project Camelot Awake and Aware Conference, Los Angeles, 20 September 2009.
-- A note of apology: we did the best we could with the colorizing of the video. The lighting conditions for the camera were very poor (David preferred the conference room lights turned right down so as to emphasize his slide presentation). The value of the content, of course, is unaffected :)
PROJECT CAMELOT
http://projectcamelot.org
-- DAVID WILCOCK's wonderful and inspired closing presentation at the Project Camelot Awake and Aware Conference, Los Angeles, 20 September 2009.
-- A note of apology: we did the best we could with the colorizing of the video. The lighting conditions for the camera were very poor (David preferred the conference room lights turned right down so as to emphasize his slide presentation). The value of the content, of course, is unaffected :)
PROJECT CAMELOT
http://projectcamelot.org
WHY 2012?
Yellowstone is the oldest and best known national park in the United States. This park features the largest and most spectacular thermal area on earth with over 10,000 geysers, hot springs, mud pots, and colorful travertine terraces. These features are all credited to the believed “hot spot” it lies over.
Yellowstone's Super Volcano - Discovery Channel Podcast
Yellowstone is overdue
Yellowstone has had an unusually high frequency of earth quakes
Yellowstone's elevation has dramatically increased over the last 3 years.
Posted by geologist Christopher C. Sanders on January 1, 2009.
"I am advising all State officials around Yellowstone National Park for a potential State of Emergency. In the last week over 300 earthquakes have been observed by the USGS. We have a 3D view on the movement of magma rising underground. We have all of the pre warning signs of a major eruption from a super volcano. - I want everyone to leave Yellowstone National Park and for 200 miles around the volcano caldera."
Yellowstone Super Volcano Alert - History Channel Special
YELLOWSTONE SPECIAL ALERT - 01.23.2010 - USGS reports well over a thousand earthquakes within the last 7 days, four of which rattled Yellowstone National Park.
Yellowstone National Park spokesman Al Nash says people reported feeling the Wednesday quakes at the park locations of Old Faithful, Canyon and Mammoth and in the Montana towns of West Yellowstone and Gardiner.
The University of Utah Seismograph Station speculates that the swarms of earthquakes are probably the result of slipping preexisting faults rather than underground movement of magma. However faults are not know to produce non-stop earth quake activity lasting for weeks on end. Only underground magma on the move can do that, as the quakes are all concentrated inside Yellowstone Park rather than along a fault line running hundreds of miles in length. (Go figure)
Since no one in recorded history knows the warning signs of a super volcano about to erupt, obviously it's anyone's guess. Just know that if these quakes continue, it's advised that anyone within a 400 mile radios may want to find somewhere else to stay for a while until the ground stops moving in Yellowstone. Note. In 2006 President Bush jr. mandated that the USGS not talk to the public about the state of Yellowstone. Obviously the public is to be kept in the dark as Obama had not rescinded the order.
Satellite imagery, GPS stats, and a whole bunch of other data definitely suggest that Yellowstone could very well be in trouble soon. Like the park floor has gone UP 8 inches in the last few months, while the surrounding area has dropped.
FYI: In 2007 Bush issued a gag warning to all USGS employees not to talk to the public about Yellowstone until Bush could sensor any new DATA. Go figure!
http://www.obamascalltoservice.com/
http://www.obamascalltoservice.org/
http://www.barackobamascalltoservice.com/
http://www.obamas-call-to-service.com/
these are my fav!! amazing documentary by History channel
History Channel - Yellowstone 2009 Part 1 of 5
www.yellowstonecaldera.net Rolling out yet ANOTHER Yellowstone Supervolcano documentary in 2009, this makes number 9 since the year 2000, in an attempt at raising "Global Awareness" as stated being the reason behind all the Yellowstone Volcano Documentaries that have suddenly started surfacing since the year 2000. Like every documentary released, they all have their "unique" discoveries.
vid part 2 of 5
vid part 3 of 5
vid part 4 of 5 *****
vid part 5 of 5
Steam Explosions, Earthquakes, and Volcanic Eruptions—What’s in Yellowstone’s Future?
via U.S. Geological Survey
Yellowstone, one of the world’s largest active volcanic systems, has produced several giant volcanic eruptions in the past few million years, as well as many smaller eruptions and steam explosions. Although no eruptions of lava or volcanic ash have occurred for many thousands of years, future eruptions are likely. In the next few hundred years, hazards will most probably be limited to ongoing geyser and hot-spring activity, occasional steam explosions, and moderate to large earthquakes. To better understand Yellowstone’s volcano and earthquake hazards and to help protect the public, the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Utah, and Yellowstone National Park formed the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, which continuously monitors activity in the region.
A 6-page version optimized for print is available as a .pdf here (fs2005-3024.pdf; 1.9 MB)
Each year, millions of visitors come to admire the hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone, the Nation’s first national park. Few are aware that these wonders are fueled by heat from a large reservoir of partially molten rock (magma), just a few miles beneath their feet. As this magma-which drives one of the world’s largest volcanic systems-rises, it pushes up the Earth’s crust beneath the Yellowstone Plateau.
Ground motions, earthquakes, and hydrothermal activity are all current manifestations of volcanic activity at Yellowstone. In the not-so-distant geologic past, Yellowstone has produced many major volcanic eruptions, which have repeatedly reshaped its natural wonders.
(continue reading here..)
Yellowstone map
Earthquakes in the Yellowstone Region
The Yellowstone National Park region produces about 2,000 earthquakes each year. Most of these quakes are too small to be felt, but they reflect the active nature of the region, one of the most seismically active areas in the United States.
The most powerful earthquake in Yellowstone’s recent history occurred in 1959. This quake was centered near Hebgen Lake, just west of the park, and had a magnitude (M) of 7.5. The Hebgen Lake earthquake killed 28 people-26 in a huge landslide triggered by the quake-and caused $11 million in damage (about $70 million in 2005 dollars). Numerous structures and roads in the region were severely damaged when hillsides collapsed, gaping cracks opened in the ground, and large blocks of rock were displaced.
The Hebgen Lake quake caused widespread changes in Yellowstone-roads were closed throughout the area, some geysers stopped erupting, and others were newly formed or came back to life after years of dormancy. Also, the Old Faithful Inn was strongly shaken-pipes broke, a chimney collapsed, and the inn had to be evacuated.
Although quakes of this magnitude are rare in the Yellowstone region, they are certain to occur in the future. To better understand this hazard and help protect the public, scientists of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) continually monitor the region’s seismic activity.
This house fell into Hebgen Lake during the 1959 earthquake and floated along the shore until it came to rest here. The owner of the house, then-70-year-old Mrs. Grace Miller, escaped only after kicking out her front door and leaping a 5-foot-wide ground crack as her house dropped into the lake. (USGS photograph by J.B. Hadley.)
Excelsior Geyser erupted in a series of violent hydrothermal explosions in the 1880s and early 1890s; one of these eruptions is shown in this colorized postcard made from a photograph. These were the largest such events to occur in the Yellowstone region in historical times. (Original photograph by F. Jay Haynes, 1888; date on postcard is incorrect.)
Yellowstone National Park research geologist Rick Hutchinson examines rock debris thrown out in a 1989 hydrothermal explosion at Porkchop Geyser. [In March 1997, Hutchinson was killed in a snow avalanche while on duty inspecting thermal features in the park.] (Photograph courtesy of Robert Smith, University of Utah.)
Yellowstone's Super Volcano - Discovery Channel Podcast
Yellowstone is overdue
Yellowstone has had an unusually high frequency of earth quakes
Yellowstone's elevation has dramatically increased over the last 3 years.
Posted by geologist Christopher C. Sanders on January 1, 2009.
"I am advising all State officials around Yellowstone National Park for a potential State of Emergency. In the last week over 300 earthquakes have been observed by the USGS. We have a 3D view on the movement of magma rising underground. We have all of the pre warning signs of a major eruption from a super volcano. - I want everyone to leave Yellowstone National Park and for 200 miles around the volcano caldera."
Yellowstone Super Volcano Alert - History Channel Special
YELLOWSTONE SPECIAL ALERT - 01.23.2010 - USGS reports well over a thousand earthquakes within the last 7 days, four of which rattled Yellowstone National Park.
Yellowstone National Park spokesman Al Nash says people reported feeling the Wednesday quakes at the park locations of Old Faithful, Canyon and Mammoth and in the Montana towns of West Yellowstone and Gardiner.
The University of Utah Seismograph Station speculates that the swarms of earthquakes are probably the result of slipping preexisting faults rather than underground movement of magma. However faults are not know to produce non-stop earth quake activity lasting for weeks on end. Only underground magma on the move can do that, as the quakes are all concentrated inside Yellowstone Park rather than along a fault line running hundreds of miles in length. (Go figure)
Since no one in recorded history knows the warning signs of a super volcano about to erupt, obviously it's anyone's guess. Just know that if these quakes continue, it's advised that anyone within a 400 mile radios may want to find somewhere else to stay for a while until the ground stops moving in Yellowstone. Note. In 2006 President Bush jr. mandated that the USGS not talk to the public about the state of Yellowstone. Obviously the public is to be kept in the dark as Obama had not rescinded the order.
Satellite imagery, GPS stats, and a whole bunch of other data definitely suggest that Yellowstone could very well be in trouble soon. Like the park floor has gone UP 8 inches in the last few months, while the surrounding area has dropped.
FYI: In 2007 Bush issued a gag warning to all USGS employees not to talk to the public about Yellowstone until Bush could sensor any new DATA. Go figure!
http://www.obamascalltoservice.com/
http://www.obamascalltoservice.org/
http://www.barackobamascalltoservice.com/
http://www.obamas-call-to-service.com/
these are my fav!! amazing documentary by History channel
History Channel - Yellowstone 2009 Part 1 of 5
www.yellowstonecaldera.net Rolling out yet ANOTHER Yellowstone Supervolcano documentary in 2009, this makes number 9 since the year 2000, in an attempt at raising "Global Awareness" as stated being the reason behind all the Yellowstone Volcano Documentaries that have suddenly started surfacing since the year 2000. Like every documentary released, they all have their "unique" discoveries.
vid part 2 of 5
vid part 3 of 5
vid part 4 of 5 *****
vid part 5 of 5
Steam Explosions, Earthquakes, and Volcanic Eruptions—What’s in Yellowstone’s Future?
via U.S. Geological Survey
Yellowstone, one of the world’s largest active volcanic systems, has produced several giant volcanic eruptions in the past few million years, as well as many smaller eruptions and steam explosions. Although no eruptions of lava or volcanic ash have occurred for many thousands of years, future eruptions are likely. In the next few hundred years, hazards will most probably be limited to ongoing geyser and hot-spring activity, occasional steam explosions, and moderate to large earthquakes. To better understand Yellowstone’s volcano and earthquake hazards and to help protect the public, the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Utah, and Yellowstone National Park formed the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, which continuously monitors activity in the region.
A 6-page version optimized for print is available as a .pdf here (fs2005-3024.pdf; 1.9 MB)
Each year, millions of visitors come to admire the hot springs and geysers of Yellowstone, the Nation’s first national park. Few are aware that these wonders are fueled by heat from a large reservoir of partially molten rock (magma), just a few miles beneath their feet. As this magma-which drives one of the world’s largest volcanic systems-rises, it pushes up the Earth’s crust beneath the Yellowstone Plateau.
Midway Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park appears otherworldly beneath stormy skies. In the background, steam vigorously rises from the hot waters of Grand Prismatic Spring, known for its rainbow colors produced by thermophilic (“heat loving”) organisms. Grand Prismatic is the largest hot spring in Yellowstone and the third largest in the world. This and other hydrothermal (hot water) features are among the main attractions for visitors to the park (inset photo). These features are fueled by heat from a large reservoir of partially molten rock (magma), just a few miles beneath Yellowstone, that drives one of the world’s largest volcanic systems. (Photograph courtesy of Robert Fournier; inset courtesy of Susan Mayfield.)
Yellowstone press images here
Stresses in the crust produce movements on faults, causing earthquakes to occur. Thousands of small quakes are recorded each year by the seismographic network of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO), a partnership of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the University of Utah, and Yellowstone National Park. Faults and fractures also allow surface water to penetrate to depth and become heated, rising again to produce hydrothermal (hot water) features, such as geysers. Steam and hot water carry huge quantities of thermal energy to the surface from the magma chamber below. Continuing up-and-down ground motions on the Yellowstone Plateau reflect the migration of both hydrothermal fluids and magma below the surface. Ground motions, earthquakes, and hydrothermal activity are all current manifestations of volcanic activity at Yellowstone. In the not-so-distant geologic past, Yellowstone has produced many major volcanic eruptions, which have repeatedly reshaped its natural wonders.
(continue reading here..)
Yellowstone is home to one of the world’s largest active volcanic systems. Cataclysmic eruptions in the past few million years created huge volcanic depressions called “calderas.” The youngest, the Yellowstone Caldera, was formed 640,000 years ago. Since then, about 80 eruptions of rhyolite (thick, sticky lava) and basalt (more-fluid lava) have occurred. The caldera’s interior is largely covered by rhyolites, most erupted in the past 160,000 years. Large hydrothermal (steam)-explosion craters formed in the past 14,000 years are located near Yellowstone Lake and in major geyser basins. Recent earthquakes (1973 to 2002) were concentrated between Hebgen Lake and the Norris Geyser Basin and along faults.
Since its last cataclysmic volcanic eruption 640,000 ago, the Yellowstone region has had about 40 eruptions of slow-moving lava flows of rhyolite (a variety of molten rock that is thick and sticky). Some of these flows cover more than 100 square miles, and many are very thick, like this approximately 180,000-year-old rhyolite flow exposed at Obsidian Cliff. Although no lava has been erupted at Yellowstone for 70,000 years, future such eruptions are likely to occur. (USGS photograph by Robert Christiansen.)
The Yellowstone National Park region produces about 2,000 earthquakes each year. Most of these quakes are too small to be felt, but they reflect the active nature of the region, one of the most seismically active areas in the United States.
The most powerful earthquake in Yellowstone’s recent history occurred in 1959. This quake was centered near Hebgen Lake, just west of the park, and had a magnitude (M) of 7.5. The Hebgen Lake earthquake killed 28 people-26 in a huge landslide triggered by the quake-and caused $11 million in damage (about $70 million in 2005 dollars). Numerous structures and roads in the region were severely damaged when hillsides collapsed, gaping cracks opened in the ground, and large blocks of rock were displaced.
The Hebgen Lake quake caused widespread changes in Yellowstone-roads were closed throughout the area, some geysers stopped erupting, and others were newly formed or came back to life after years of dormancy. Also, the Old Faithful Inn was strongly shaken-pipes broke, a chimney collapsed, and the inn had to be evacuated.
Although quakes of this magnitude are rare in the Yellowstone region, they are certain to occur in the future. To better understand this hazard and help protect the public, scientists of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) continually monitor the region’s seismic activity.
Seismogram of the 1959 magnitude 7.5 Hebgen Lake earthquake recorded at Butte, Montana, about 100 miles from the epicenter.
Excelsior Geyser erupted in a series of violent hydrothermal explosions in the 1880s and early 1890s; one of these eruptions is shown in this colorized postcard made from a photograph. These were the largest such events to occur in the Yellowstone region in historical times. (Original photograph by F. Jay Haynes, 1888; date on postcard is incorrect.)
Yellowstone National Park research geologist Rick Hutchinson examines rock debris thrown out in a 1989 hydrothermal explosion at Porkchop Geyser. [In March 1997, Hutchinson was killed in a snow avalanche while on duty inspecting thermal features in the park.] (Photograph courtesy of Robert Smith, University of Utah.)
some nice images of Yellowston National Park
a lots of beautiful falls images in one place via grandcanyon site, Just wow!!
Yellowstone Canyon: This national park, created by the federal government on March 1, 1872, an area of 3,468 square miles in parts of northwest Wyoming, Eastern Idaho, Southern Montana and it sits on a high plateau at an elevation of 8000 feet.via Yellowstone National Park uwec.edu
source: www.berann.com/panorama/ yellowstone_l.jpg
Vostok - Raiders of the Lost Lake
Vostok - Antarctica :The Dark, vast lake under the ice
Lake Vostok from space (image)
Lake Vostok is located beneath four kilometers of ice in East Antarctica. The lake is approximately 250 km long and 50 km wide. The overlying ice provides a continuous paleo-climatic record of 400,000 years, although the lake water itself may have been isolated for as long as 15 million years.
(continue...)
Article Written by Alan Bellows on 21 August 2008
In the early 1990s, a Russian drilling rig encountered something peculiar two miles beneath the coldest and most desolate place on Earth. For decades, the workers at Vostok Research Station in Antarctica had been extracting core samples from deep scientific boreholes, and analyzing the lasagna-like layers of ice to study Earth’s bygone climate. But after tunneling through 414,000 layers or so– about two miles into the icecap– the layers abruptly ended. The ice below that depth was relatively clear and featureless, a deviation the scientists were at a loss to explain. In search of answers, the men drilled on.
Unbeknownst to the Russians, their drill had mingled with the uppermost reaches of one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world; a pristine pocket of liquid whose ecosystem was separated from the rest of the Earth millions of years ago. As for what sort of organisms might lurk in that exotic environment today, no one can really be certain.
In prehistoric times the Antarctic continent was much more temperate, with lush tropical foliage and thriving wildlife. But millions of years ago the Earth’s extra-flaky crust caused the landmasses of Australia and South America to gradually peel away from Antarctica, creating a ring of open sea around the southernmost continent. This allowed a massive oceanic current to begin encircling the pole, deflecting warmer northerly currents away from Antarctica’s shores. Without warm water to moderate the temperature, a scab of polar ice developed over the formerly forested lands.
Roughly forty million years later, in 1996, the men and women of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) urged their Russian colleagues to halt their indiscriminate drilling. From Columbia UniversityAirborne radar and satellite altimetry had finally managed to penetrate the thick mound of ice over the south pole, and after electromagnetically groping every rock and crevice in Antarctica, a flat region 155 miles long and 31 miles wide was detected below Vostok Station. As improbable as it seemed, SCAR researchers surmised that a liquid lake must lie just below the Russians’ steadily advancing bore shaft. In order to avoid contaminating the huge lake with surface bacteria and drilling chemicals, the tunneling had to be stopped.
click here to watch >> Flash animation of the lake's environment AWESOME!
Lake Vostok was found to have approximately the same surface area as the great Lake Ontario in North America, with more than thrice the depth. Separated from sunlight by two miles of solid ice, the subglacial lake is a place of profound darkness and bitter cold. The water temperature is estimated at 3 degrees below zero Celsius, but it maintains a liquid state due to the crushing weight of the polar ice slab; the temperature at which water freezes is significantly lower under such phenomenal pressure. It is also suspected that geothermal heat from the ground below adds some ambient warmth. According to the ice cores extracted by the Vostok Base scientists, the lonely lake has been sealed beneath the ice for at least 500,000 years, but possibly as much as 25 million.
As requested, the Russians temporarily suspended their drilling efforts pending further study. Their borehole– which was filled with sixty tons of kerosene and freon to prevent re-freezing– stopped within a mere 300 feet of the lake surface. The anomalous ice they had encountered turned out to be lake water which had long ago frozen to the bottom of the slowly migrating glacier. These ice samples provided a few insights into the lake’s anatomy, such as its lack of salt, and its absurd overabundance of oxygen; under extreme pressures oxygen will more readily dissolve in water. If the drilling over Vostok had continued uninterrupted, thereby encroaching upon the liquid portion of the lake, the hapless Russians might have been assaulted by a towering geyser of ancient water and liberated oxygen due to the astonishing pressure of the hidden body of water.
In the wake of the lake’s discovery, there arose considerable debate regarding the likelihood of finding life there. The environment is remarkably similar to the dark and cold ocean below the surface of Jupiter’s ice moon Europa, so the discovery of life in Vostok could have interesting extraterrestrial implications. Due to the cold, the complete absence of sunlight, and the toxic levels of oxygen, many scientists are certain that Lake Vostok is sterile. That, however, would be a scientific first, since never before has a completely lifeless body of water been found on Earth. Extremophile organisms have turned up in the unlikeliest of places, including within volcanic vents on the ocean floor, in the rocks deep in the Earth’s crust, and in frozen arctic soil.
Secret of Antarctica
It is not unreasonable to suggest that cold-tolerant creatures could thrive in the waters of Lake Vostok, overcoming the oxygen saturation with extraordinary natural antioxidants. But millions of years of evolutionary isolation in an extreme environment may have created some truly bizarre organisms. This notion is supported by the ice samples drawn from the ice just above Lake Vostok, where some unusual and unidentifiable microbial fossils have been found. But the possibility that they are merely contaminates has not yet been completely ruled out.
At present, a number of researchers are mulling over methods to investigate the lake’s unique ecosystem without defiling its pristine nature. The introduction of any organisms or chemicals from the surface could irreversibly pollute its waters, and there is a small but real possibility that the lake’s alien organisms could be dangerous to humans. To date, the best candidate seems to be the cryobot, a fittingly phallic penetrating probe designed to gingerly work its way into the virgin lake. Its heated tip would melt a channel straight into the ice as it unspools a power and communications line behind it. The melted water would quickly re-freeze behind the cryobot in temperatures which linger around minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and once it finally reached the water it would eject a small submersible hydrobot to capture images and take measurements.
Though most scientists are proceeding with considerable caution, and some advocate avoiding the lake altogether, there are reports that the Russian researchers intend to restart drilling in order to reach the lake before their rivals. The Antarctic Treaty of 1961 guarantees all nations the right to conduct non-military scientific study on the continent, therefore little can be done to intervene if the men at Vostok station insist upon proceeding. Several smaller lakes have since been identified beneath the Antarctic icecap, but geologists speculate many of these are linked by a network of under-ice rivers, so contaminating just one lake might taint them all beyond repair.
If science seizes the opportunity to properly explore this perplexing pocket of liquid, it would be equally enlightening whether there is a plethora of life or a complete absence thereof. If the lake is found to be sterile, its desolate waters will provide some measure of insight into life’s practical limitations. But if living things do indeed lurk beneath the thick Antarctic icecap– even if only in microbial form– their presence will demonstrate that life is made up of truly resilient stuff, with scientific implications well beyond the scope of our planet
Further reading:
Secrets of Antarctica's 15-Million Year-Old Lake - A Galaxy Classic
Lake Vostok (Antarctica)
NASA article on the Cryobot
MSNBC article: Antarctic Lake is Pollutant Free, for Now
Wikipedia: Extremophile
Wikipedia: Antarctic Treaty
Lake Vostok is located beneath four kilometers of ice in East Antarctica. The lake is approximately 250 km long and 50 km wide. The overlying ice provides a continuous paleo-climatic record of 400,000 years, although the lake water itself may have been isolated for as long as 15 million years.
(continue...)
Article Written by Alan Bellows on 21 August 2008
In the early 1990s, a Russian drilling rig encountered something peculiar two miles beneath the coldest and most desolate place on Earth. For decades, the workers at Vostok Research Station in Antarctica had been extracting core samples from deep scientific boreholes, and analyzing the lasagna-like layers of ice to study Earth’s bygone climate. But after tunneling through 414,000 layers or so– about two miles into the icecap– the layers abruptly ended. The ice below that depth was relatively clear and featureless, a deviation the scientists were at a loss to explain. In search of answers, the men drilled on.
Unbeknownst to the Russians, their drill had mingled with the uppermost reaches of one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world; a pristine pocket of liquid whose ecosystem was separated from the rest of the Earth millions of years ago. As for what sort of organisms might lurk in that exotic environment today, no one can really be certain.
In prehistoric times the Antarctic continent was much more temperate, with lush tropical foliage and thriving wildlife. But millions of years ago the Earth’s extra-flaky crust caused the landmasses of Australia and South America to gradually peel away from Antarctica, creating a ring of open sea around the southernmost continent. This allowed a massive oceanic current to begin encircling the pole, deflecting warmer northerly currents away from Antarctica’s shores. Without warm water to moderate the temperature, a scab of polar ice developed over the formerly forested lands.
Roughly forty million years later, in 1996, the men and women of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) urged their Russian colleagues to halt their indiscriminate drilling. From Columbia UniversityAirborne radar and satellite altimetry had finally managed to penetrate the thick mound of ice over the south pole, and after electromagnetically groping every rock and crevice in Antarctica, a flat region 155 miles long and 31 miles wide was detected below Vostok Station. As improbable as it seemed, SCAR researchers surmised that a liquid lake must lie just below the Russians’ steadily advancing bore shaft. In order to avoid contaminating the huge lake with surface bacteria and drilling chemicals, the tunneling had to be stopped.
Lake Vostok was found to have approximately the same surface area as the great Lake Ontario in North America, with more than thrice the depth. Separated from sunlight by two miles of solid ice, the subglacial lake is a place of profound darkness and bitter cold. The water temperature is estimated at 3 degrees below zero Celsius, but it maintains a liquid state due to the crushing weight of the polar ice slab; the temperature at which water freezes is significantly lower under such phenomenal pressure. It is also suspected that geothermal heat from the ground below adds some ambient warmth. According to the ice cores extracted by the Vostok Base scientists, the lonely lake has been sealed beneath the ice for at least 500,000 years, but possibly as much as 25 million.
As requested, the Russians temporarily suspended their drilling efforts pending further study. Their borehole– which was filled with sixty tons of kerosene and freon to prevent re-freezing– stopped within a mere 300 feet of the lake surface. The anomalous ice they had encountered turned out to be lake water which had long ago frozen to the bottom of the slowly migrating glacier. These ice samples provided a few insights into the lake’s anatomy, such as its lack of salt, and its absurd overabundance of oxygen; under extreme pressures oxygen will more readily dissolve in water. If the drilling over Vostok had continued uninterrupted, thereby encroaching upon the liquid portion of the lake, the hapless Russians might have been assaulted by a towering geyser of ancient water and liberated oxygen due to the astonishing pressure of the hidden body of water.
In the wake of the lake’s discovery, there arose considerable debate regarding the likelihood of finding life there. The environment is remarkably similar to the dark and cold ocean below the surface of Jupiter’s ice moon Europa, so the discovery of life in Vostok could have interesting extraterrestrial implications. Due to the cold, the complete absence of sunlight, and the toxic levels of oxygen, many scientists are certain that Lake Vostok is sterile. That, however, would be a scientific first, since never before has a completely lifeless body of water been found on Earth. Extremophile organisms have turned up in the unlikeliest of places, including within volcanic vents on the ocean floor, in the rocks deep in the Earth’s crust, and in frozen arctic soil.
It is not unreasonable to suggest that cold-tolerant creatures could thrive in the waters of Lake Vostok, overcoming the oxygen saturation with extraordinary natural antioxidants. But millions of years of evolutionary isolation in an extreme environment may have created some truly bizarre organisms. This notion is supported by the ice samples drawn from the ice just above Lake Vostok, where some unusual and unidentifiable microbial fossils have been found. But the possibility that they are merely contaminates has not yet been completely ruled out.
At present, a number of researchers are mulling over methods to investigate the lake’s unique ecosystem without defiling its pristine nature. The introduction of any organisms or chemicals from the surface could irreversibly pollute its waters, and there is a small but real possibility that the lake’s alien organisms could be dangerous to humans. To date, the best candidate seems to be the cryobot, a fittingly phallic penetrating probe designed to gingerly work its way into the virgin lake. Its heated tip would melt a channel straight into the ice as it unspools a power and communications line behind it. The melted water would quickly re-freeze behind the cryobot in temperatures which linger around minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and once it finally reached the water it would eject a small submersible hydrobot to capture images and take measurements.
Though most scientists are proceeding with considerable caution, and some advocate avoiding the lake altogether, there are reports that the Russian researchers intend to restart drilling in order to reach the lake before their rivals. The Antarctic Treaty of 1961 guarantees all nations the right to conduct non-military scientific study on the continent, therefore little can be done to intervene if the men at Vostok station insist upon proceeding. Several smaller lakes have since been identified beneath the Antarctic icecap, but geologists speculate many of these are linked by a network of under-ice rivers, so contaminating just one lake might taint them all beyond repair.
If science seizes the opportunity to properly explore this perplexing pocket of liquid, it would be equally enlightening whether there is a plethora of life or a complete absence thereof. If the lake is found to be sterile, its desolate waters will provide some measure of insight into life’s practical limitations. But if living things do indeed lurk beneath the thick Antarctic icecap– even if only in microbial form– their presence will demonstrate that life is made up of truly resilient stuff, with scientific implications well beyond the scope of our planet
Further reading:
Secrets of Antarctica's 15-Million Year-Old Lake - A Galaxy Classic
Researchers have thawed ice estimated to be perhaps a million years old or more from above Lake Vostok, an ancient lake that lies hidden more than two miles beneath the frozen surface of Antarctica using novel genomic techniques to determine how tiny, living "time capsules" survived the ages in total darkness, in freezing cold, and without food and energy from the sun. (continue..)
Lake Vostok (Antarctica)
NASA article on the Cryobot
MSNBC article: Antarctic Lake is Pollutant Free, for Now
Wikipedia: Extremophile
Wikipedia: Antarctic Treaty
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)