It has long been the desire of the scientists from all over the world to drill through the thick ice and into Antarctica’s 100-mile-long Lake Vostok, the most isolated, mysterious and fragile ecosystem on the planet. National Academies of Science (NAS) has approved to the proposal in the form of report entitled: Exploration of Antarctic Sub-glacial Aquatic Environments: Environmental and Scientific Stewardship.
It took long time for NAS to give the approval. Recent studies on the changing elevations of the surface ice in and around the lakes have revealed that Vostok is no more an isolated. It is tied to an enormous network of sub-glacial waterways that can push the surface ice up and down.
It is anticipated that the study will also help reveal the clues of how sea level might change with the change in climate that means clues could be yielded as to how the frozen continent will respond to warming.
Drilling through the ice into Vostok and more than 140 smaller sub-glacial lakes is not an easy task and there is a risk of damaging the pristine environments. NAS report has led to the controversy among the scientists as to how the study should be carried out responsibly.
Source: Discover News