Posted on 12/29/2007 9:07:37 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Researchers have uncovered a complex subglacial system miles under the ice where rivers larger than the Amazon link a series of "lake districts," which may teem with mineral-hungry microbes. This watery environment may be more than one-and-a-half times the size of the United States, scientists say, which would make it the world's largest wetland... Studinger's research focuses on "recovery lakes," part of a a series of cascading lakes found earlier this year under the ice sheet. The lakes... ebb and flow as they empty into the polar sea. They stay fluid because the ice sheet above acts like a gigantic down blanket, trapping heat rising from Earth's interior. About 145 lakes have been found, under ice up to 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) thick... Outbursts from subglacial lakes, for example, may have a lot to do with how the continents are shaped and reshaped. The lakes may also hold an untapped wealth of climate records that could improve our understanding of how life evolved, he added. Some of these mysteries might be cracked within months, when Russian scientists drill down 2.3 miles (3.8 kilometers) to reach Lake Vostok. The giant lake, 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) beneath eastern Antarctica, was found in 1996 using satellite imagery and specialized radar technology.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
If scientists peeled back the Antarctic ice sheet, a complex system of complex rivers of lakes similar to Earth's surface would emerge.
To date little is known about this inaccessible environment, although preliminary research suggests subglacial bodies of water may harbor some basic life-forms.
Illustration courtesy Zina Deretsky/NSF
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lake vostok site:freerepublic.com |
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Gondwana mystery lures geologist back to AntarcticaGeologist Masaki Owada, 47, is looking forward to visiting Antarctica next November as the second in command of the 50th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition, the latest in a series aiming to uncover the mysteries of the ancient Gondwana supercontinent... Owada is a professor at Yamaguchi University's Graduate School. In June, the National Institute of Polar Research in Itabashi Ward, Tokyo, offered him a chance to join the new expedition as second in command... The rocky mountains are said to be the center of the former Gondwana supercontinent, which is believed to have been formed 500 million years ago from the collision of several continents... By examining the mineral composition of the rocks, Owada hopes to get a picture of the Earth 200 million years in the future, when the Asian mainland, North America and the Japanese archipelago are predicted to collide.
by Seiji Otsuka
Yomiuri Shimbun
Hmmmm; gotta wonder how much space might be down there between the ice and the lakes/rivers. AND what sort of air might be available.
Did you feel the earth move?
Who came up with the goofy name “Gondwana”? Was it Owada?
Anything recent about the magnetic anomaly involving Lake Vostok??
Oh really? How about explaining when how and why a perfectly good continent, with mountains, deserts, lakes and rivers and forests suddenly became frozen solid?
UFO bases?
Hard to imagine but they did it.
Undevelopable.
re: Gondwana
I should hunt down the ridiculous stuff on Antarctica’s buried lost cities, alien bases, and stuff which I saw, I think, on The Enterprise Mission. :’) It was related to these meltwater lakes.
There’s no police force or other enforcement agency with authority to stop development there; but there’d be no market for the product, unless that product was energy (hydrocarbons, nuclear power, etc).
Ya ever see the movie “Goliath Awaits”? ;’)
from the look of things, I guess it’s not of much legitimate concern:
Antarctic Digital Magnetic Anomaly Project by multi-national scientific communities
Last updated: May 17th, 2007
http://earthsciences.osu.edu/admap/
http://www.geology.ohio-state.edu/admap/
it has been of some illegitimate concern though:
http://www.enterprisemission.com/antarctica.htm
http://www.rense.com/general9/ant.htm
Thanks! Never knew that.
Just a coincidence that it followed the Eltanin impact. ;’)
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