20 Million Year Old Lake Beneath Antarctica Is About to Be Uncovered
Two and a half miles under the Earth lies Lake Vostok, which hasn't seen the light of day in 20 million years. It's taken almost 20 years of drilling, but Russian scientists are about to break through and explore the lake at the bottom of the world.
Vostok is thought to hold more fresh water than any other lake in the world, and is the third-largest by volume overall. To give you a sense of just how deep it is, it's kept liquid by heat from the core of the planet. And the Russian drilling is being staged at Antarctica's Vostok Station, which itself is built at the Southern Cold Pole—basically, the coldest point on Earth. Scientists are giddy over the possibility of observing life that's been completely undisturbed for millions of years, since back when Antarctica was attached to Australia.
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