Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
the subterranean environments of other planets and satellites, such as Jupiter's moon
Europa, which possesses an icy crust above a liquid water mass.
The ongoing exploration of Lake Ellsworth in West Antarctica is a good example of how
research in this area of the Antarctic must contend with the most challenging of constraints,
such as the avoidance of contaminating the lake in question. Lake Ellsworth is over 100
metres deep, and this sub-glacial lake is regarded as scientifically promising. In order to
better understand the local environment of Lake Ellsworth, 30 scientists led by the
University of Edinburgh and British Antarctic Survey will have to drill, sample, and study
this unique and uncontaminated environment.
During the IPY, the multi-institutional team, using radar and seismic surveys, were able to
map and measure the lake's outline and water depth. Ice-penetrating radar is essential
because radio waves help to identify sub-glacial lakes, as opposed to ice and rock. As a
consequence of the flat and uniformly strong echo, it is comparatively straightforward to
discover the sub-glacial lakes
per se
. Sediment coring will follow in order to better
understand the ice sheet history of West Antarctica. For 2012/3, funding has been secured so
that the Lake Ellsworth team can begin to drill into the overlying ice sheet and to the lake
water itself. A probe and sediment corer would follow to test for biotic life and secure
sediment from the lake floor respectively. In November 2012, the team hope to drill using
hot water. Once they reach their target depth of 3,000 metres, having established a hole of
about 36 centimetres in diameter, they will have 24 hours to collect water samples and
sediment cores before re-freezing sets in.
The wider significance of the Lake Ellsworth project lies in its contribution to better
understanding, as with research on the Gamburtsev Mountains, the counter-intuitive
importance of liquid water to the polar continent - extraordinary low temperatures and
substantial ice sheet notwithstanding. The Antarctic ice sheet is effectively warmed by
geothermal heating and, as a consequence, water flows into troughs and valleys where it
forms a patchwork of sub-glacial lakes, some extending thousands of square miles in area.
Sed and scientific understandingsi
Summary
Science is still the number one activity in the Antarctic in terms of both scale - most
practised - and morality - most legitimate. Scientists have, collectively and collaboratively,
with the help of bodies such as SCAR, generated some extraordinarily important insights
into the Antarctic. It is a critical part of planet Earth. The physical and biological
characteristics of the polar continent and Southern Ocean are closely related to other areas
of the global environmental systChina and Indi
