The coast of the West Antarctic landmass is one of the most desolate places on the planet. For 1,000 kilometres, it is buried under the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, a series of interconnected glaciers the size of Western Europe that slowly slides off the continent into the sea. Nestled in a steep creek beneath three kilometres of Antarctic ice, the lost world of Lake Ellsworth
Almost 380 subglacial lakes have been discovered and mapped in Antarctica, and have been explored remotely with ice-penetrating radar, gravity measurements and seismic investigations. These ancient lakes, large and small, owe their existence to geothermal heat that melts the Antarctic ice from below. Gravity and ice pressure force the melt water to flow and it collects in the hollows and valleys of the continent under the ice.
More than 20 researchers who had arrived by plane used their gear to bore a hole into the ice—becoming the first people ever to fetch a clean sample from one of the continent’s hidden lakes, arguably the most pristine bodies of water on the planet. What they found promises to open a new chapter in our understanding of life on earth.
Researchers have discovered dozens of new species living deep under ice. Experts say they show life can exist in surprising places. Life that is simultaneously normal and weird, simple and complex thrives in this extreme environment. This find raises hopes life could have adapted to flourish on other planets
In even more remote places on the continent, areas that haven’t been exposed to sunlight for millions of years, scientists found a surprise right out of an alien movie: the DNA of a microscopic creature that looks like a combination of a bear, manatee and centipede.
In laboratories set up in shipping containers, scientists right away found signs of life in the lake—the first evidence of its kind. Cells were visible under a microscope. And tests showed evidence of ATP, a phosphorus-containing compound that helps regulate energy in living cells. The findings suggest a “huge sub-ice aquatic ecosystem” swimming with microbes, says John C. Priscu, an ecologist at Montana State University and WISSARD chief scientist.
“We’re giving the world the first glimpse of what it’s like under this huge Antarctic ice sheet that was previously thought to be dead.”
