Willans ( Eng. Lake Whillans ) - ice - cold lake in Antarctica . It got its name in honor of the glaciologist Ian Willans, a doctor at Ohio State University .
| Lake | |
| Willance | |
|---|---|
| English Lake whillans | |
| Morphometry | |
| Area | 60 km² |
| Average depth | 2 m |
| Location | |
| Continent |
|
| Region | West Antarctica |
Lake Willans is located under the in the southeastern part of the Ross Glacier [1] . The lake is located at a depth of about 800 meters under the ice, its approximate area is 60 km², and its depth is one and a half to two meters [2] , although scientists using seismological measurements assumed 6–9 meters [3] . The water temperature of the lake is −0.5 ° С [4] .
The lake was first described by the glaciologist Helen Fricker of the in 2007. She and her team studied satellite images of the region from 2003 to 2006, on which they found periodic rise and fall of ice, and concluded that there was an ice-cold lake in this place [4] .
Research
January 28, 2013 [5] a group of drillersWISSARD reported that it had reached the surface of the lake, passing through an 800-meter ice sheet. The diameter of the drilled well was 30 centimeters [1] , water and bottom sediments were taken through it, in which lithotroph microorganisms were found [4] (about 1000 pieces per milliliter [5] , which is 10 times less than in ocean water ) that use not photosynthesis [2] but hydrocarbons [6] to maintain their vital functions. Scientists noted that "this was the first successful extraction of samples of such high quality from the Antarctic subglacial lake." Similar work was previously carried out by Russian researchers in Lake Vostok , where the extracted samples did not bring major discoveries [7] , and by the British in Lake Ellsworth , where drilling was not completed due to equipment failure [4] [1] .
In 2014, the lake was investigated by scientists from the US National Science Foundation [6] .
The study of Lake Willans can give scientists an idea of the possible life on the satellite of Jupiter Europe and the satellite of Saturn Enceladus , where the climate is similar to terrestrial Antarctica [4] [1] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Jonathan Amos. Drill reaches Antarctica's under-ice Lake Whillans at bbc.com January 28, 2013
- ↑ 1 2 Kirin Schirmeyer. Lake-drilling team discovers life under the ice on nature.com , February 11, 2013
- ↑ Scientists First Glimpse Interior of an Antarctic Subglacial Lake at discovermagazine.com , January 27, 2013
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Mark Kaufman. Life Found Deep Under Antarctic Ice for First Time? (English) on nationalgeographic.com , February 5, 2013
- ↑ 1 2 Becky Oskin. Life Confirmed in Buried Antarctic Lake ( live ) on livescience.com , February 12, 2013
- ↑ 1 2 Methane-eating bacteria in lake deep beneath Antarctic ice sheet may reduce greenhouse gas emissions (www.nsf.gov, July 31, 2017
- ↑ See East (lake) # Attempts to reach the lake
Links
- Official site WISSARD (English)
- Lake Willance (English) at lakelubbers.com
- Douglas Fox Life Under Antarctica's Ice on discovermagazine.com , June 3, 2013