Lake Vostok, Antarctica

Lake Vostok is one of the most important fresh lakes on Earth in size and volume, competitor Lake Ontario in North America consistent with NASA. The lake is 149 miles (240 km) long and 31 miles (50 km) wide and many meters deep, consistent with a journal authored by glacial period scientist Bethan Davies. The southern finish of the lake is also up to zero. 6 miles (1 km) deep, however, the northern and southwestern corners square measure comparatively shallow, Davies aforesaid.

The presence of an outsized buried lake was first within the 1960s by a Russian expert and pilot, World Health Organization detected the big, slippery ice patch over the lake from the air. However it had been not till 1993, once scientists used satellite measuring instruments to check the world, that scientists confirmed the presence of the subglacial lake, Science according.

The lake’s sole water supply is meltwater from superimposed midland ice, Christner aforesaid. “As way as I do know, there's no proof of flow or outflow of water from Lake Vostok,” he said. This constant replacement from melting ice means that the water within the lake is also comparatively young, solely thousands of years recent, consistent with ice core studies. However truth age of the seawater is unknown, he said.

Researchers have mapped the form of Vostoksøen with remote sensing techniques, like seismal probes and ice-penetrating measuring instruments. The deep and shallow square measures of the lake are separated by a ridge. Some researchers believe that the ridge is also a hydrothermal vapor like the black smokers on the bottom notable to swarm with snake worms, Popular Science according. The long, slim lake could lie a fissure depression, like Lake Baikal in Russia.