Opening a new scientific frontier lying under the Antarctic ice, Russian researchers have drilled down and finally reached the surface of the gigantic freshwater lake, Lake Vostok. The mission chief likened the achiev...Opening a new scientific frontier lying under the Antarctic ice, Russian researchers have drilled down and finally reached the surface of the gigantic freshwater lake, Lake Vostok. The mission chief likened the achievement to placing a man on the moon. Drilling in the area of the lake began 22 years ago in 1990, but progressed slowly as a result of funding shortages, equipment breakdowns, difficulties of drilling in the ＂warm＂ ice, and environmental concerns. In 1996, six years after drilling was started, a group of Russian and British scientists discovered the lake believed to be one of the largest fresh water reservoirs on the planet. This lake is among the last unexplored places on Earth. Sealed from the Earth＇s atmosphere for millions of years, it may provide vital information about microbial evolution, the past climate of the Earth, and the formation of the Antarctic ice sheet. Russian experts waited several years for international approval of their drilling technology before proceeding. As anticipated, lake water under pressure rushed up the borehole, pushing the drilling fluid up and away, then froze, forming a protective plug that prevented contamination of the lake. In December of the next Antarctic season, 2012--2013, researchers plan to re-drill the frozen sample of subglacial water for analysis.展开更多
This paper includes a short historical review of Russian and Soviet scientific traverses to study the Antarctic inland. The first traverse left on April 2, 1956. It resulted in the opening of the first Russian inland ...This paper includes a short historical review of Russian and Soviet scientific traverses to study the Antarctic inland. The first traverse left on April 2, 1956. It resulted in the opening of the first Russian inland research station named Pionerskaya and provided the first geophysical and glaciological data on regions inland of the Antarctic coast. By 1965, a number of regional inland scientific traverses had been completed and. the first Atlas of Antarctica was published in 1966. The atlas presented the main achievements of that time. After the discovery of Lake Vostok, Russian scientists commenced remote sensing investigations to study this unique natural phenomenon. The propagation of acoustic and electromagnetic waves in the glacier near Vostok Station were measured to provide important geophysical data. Radio-echo sounding data showed that Lake Vostok is isolated and separated from the rest of the Antarctic subglacial hydrosphere. The total area of the lake is 15 790 km2, excluding 365 km^2 occupied by 11 islands. Reflection seismic soundings of Lake Vostok estimated a total volume of about 6 100 km^3, an average depth of about 400 m, and a maximum depth of 1 200 m. Since 2008, there have been a number of scientific traverses between Mirny and Vostok stations and between Progress and Vostok stations. The data collected during the traverses have provided new insights into sub-ice topography and ice sheet structure, and have led to the discovery of subglacial lakes near Komsomolskaya Station and under Pionerskaya Station.展开更多
To estimate basal water storage beneath the Antarctic ice sheet, it is essential to have data on the three-dimensional characteristics of subglacial lakes. We present a method to estimate the water depth and surface a...To estimate basal water storage beneath the Antarctic ice sheet, it is essential to have data on the three-dimensional characteristics of subglacial lakes. We present a method to estimate the water depth and surface area of Antarctic subglacial lakes from the inversion of hydraulic potential method. Lake Vostok is chosen as a case study because of the diverse and comprehensive measurements that have been obtained over and around the lake. The average depth of Lake Vostok is around 345±4 m. We estimated the surface area of Lake Vostok beneath the ice sheet to be about 13300±594 km^2. The lake consists of two sub-basins separated by a ridge at water depths of about 200–300 m. The surface area of the northern sub-basin is estimated to be about half of that of the southern basin. The maximum depths of the northern and southern sub-basins are estimated to be about 450 and 850 m, respectively. Total water volume is estimated to be about 4658±204 km^3. These estimates are compared with previous estimates obtained from seismic data and inversion of aerogravity data. In general, our estimates are closer to those obtained from the inversion of aerogravity data than those from seismic data, indicating the applicability of our method to the estimation of water depths of other subglacial lakes.展开更多
文摘Opening a new scientific frontier lying under the Antarctic ice, Russian researchers have drilled down and finally reached the surface of the gigantic freshwater lake, Lake Vostok. The mission chief likened the achievement to placing a man on the moon. Drilling in the area of the lake began 22 years ago in 1990, but progressed slowly as a result of funding shortages, equipment breakdowns, difficulties of drilling in the ＂warm＂ ice, and environmental concerns. In 1996, six years after drilling was started, a group of Russian and British scientists discovered the lake believed to be one of the largest fresh water reservoirs on the planet. This lake is among the last unexplored places on Earth. Sealed from the Earth＇s atmosphere for millions of years, it may provide vital information about microbial evolution, the past climate of the Earth, and the formation of the Antarctic ice sheet. Russian experts waited several years for international approval of their drilling technology before proceeding. As anticipated, lake water under pressure rushed up the borehole, pushing the drilling fluid up and away, then froze, forming a protective plug that prevented contamination of the lake. In December of the next Antarctic season, 2012--2013, researchers plan to re-drill the frozen sample of subglacial water for analysis.
基金supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), research project No. 14-05-00234-а
文摘This paper includes a short historical review of Russian and Soviet scientific traverses to study the Antarctic inland. The first traverse left on April 2, 1956. It resulted in the opening of the first Russian inland research station named Pionerskaya and provided the first geophysical and glaciological data on regions inland of the Antarctic coast. By 1965, a number of regional inland scientific traverses had been completed and. the first Atlas of Antarctica was published in 1966. The atlas presented the main achievements of that time. After the discovery of Lake Vostok, Russian scientists commenced remote sensing investigations to study this unique natural phenomenon. The propagation of acoustic and electromagnetic waves in the glacier near Vostok Station were measured to provide important geophysical data. Radio-echo sounding data showed that Lake Vostok is isolated and separated from the rest of the Antarctic subglacial hydrosphere. The total area of the lake is 15 790 km2, excluding 365 km^2 occupied by 11 islands. Reflection seismic soundings of Lake Vostok estimated a total volume of about 6 100 km^3, an average depth of about 400 m, and a maximum depth of 1 200 m. Since 2008, there have been a number of scientific traverses between Mirny and Vostok stations and between Progress and Vostok stations. The data collected during the traverses have provided new insights into sub-ice topography and ice sheet structure, and have led to the discovery of subglacial lakes near Komsomolskaya Station and under Pionerskaya Station.
基金funded by the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant nos. 41674085 and 41621091)the National Key Basic Research Program of China (973 program, Grant nos. 2012CB957703 and 2013CB733301)
文摘To estimate basal water storage beneath the Antarctic ice sheet, it is essential to have data on the three-dimensional characteristics of subglacial lakes. We present a method to estimate the water depth and surface area of Antarctic subglacial lakes from the inversion of hydraulic potential method. Lake Vostok is chosen as a case study because of the diverse and comprehensive measurements that have been obtained over and around the lake. The average depth of Lake Vostok is around 345±4 m. We estimated the surface area of Lake Vostok beneath the ice sheet to be about 13300±594 km^2. The lake consists of two sub-basins separated by a ridge at water depths of about 200–300 m. The surface area of the northern sub-basin is estimated to be about half of that of the southern basin. The maximum depths of the northern and southern sub-basins are estimated to be about 450 and 850 m, respectively. Total water volume is estimated to be about 4658±204 km^3. These estimates are compared with previous estimates obtained from seismic data and inversion of aerogravity data. In general, our estimates are closer to those obtained from the inversion of aerogravity data than those from seismic data, indicating the applicability of our method to the estimation of water depths of other subglacial lakes.
