All Eyes on Lake Vostok...To Be Breached Today!!!

Is it high pressure that is keeping it liquified?

Also, is the masscon highly magnetized? If so, then at one point in its life it was exposed to vast amounts of energy (charge/electricity).

kori

Because pressure is far worse an obstacle than lack of pressure.

Do you know what the number one selling item at Wal-Mart is??? Bananas!! See how prolific they are..

Great answer! Thanks.

[link to upload.wikimedia.org]

under the ice map. certain areas look strangely regular to me, in terms of some of the 'lakes.'

many of the secrets of the world are buried down there.

i read the first 3 pages, dunno if this as been brought up, the say they filled the giant hole with anti-freeze, so that it wont freeze for years to come

then it says that the immense pressure might blow the whole thing up

wont the anti-freeze kill what ever life is there when they reach water, wont the anti-freeze just flow in the lake

They removed the anti-freeze before they continued this year.

ok cool, don't want a Kraken that smells like my old 76 chevelle leaking radiator

Thanks. Will add to my to do list.

Namaste.

What I am having trouble wrapping my brain around is, if the water in the lake is 65 degrees, and has been there for 15 million years, why hasn't it consumed the glacier? Does the ice regenerate itself, faster then it can melt, does it create a barrier of imovable object, and irrisistable force? Are the magnetics of the mascon at play to keep a barrier around the lake, preventing the temp of the lake from consuming the glacier?

:doomisonon:

Once again humans have to stick their finger up Mother Earth's ass....usually no good comes from stuff like that.

Interesting thread OP, def something to keep watching.

Hey, and no flouride too!

Interesting articles here too.

[link to s8int.com]

Lake Vostok is located 2.48 miles (four kilometers) beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The lake, and more than 70 other lakes deep beneath the polar plateau, are part of a large, sub-glacial environment that has been isolated from the atmosphere since Antarctica became covered with ice more than 15 million years ago. Moffett Field - Aug 12, 2003

Water released from Lake Vostok, deep beneath the south polar ice sheet, could gush like a popped can of soda if not contained, opening the lake to possible contamination and posing a potential health hazard to NASA and university researchers.

A team of scientists that recently investigated the levels of dissolved gases in the remote Antarctic lake found the concentrations of gas in the lake water were much higher than expected, measuring 2.65 quarts (2.5 liters) of nitrogen and oxygen per 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram) of water.

According to scientists, this high ratio of gases trapped under the ice will cause a gas-driven "fizz" when the water is released.

"Our research suggests that U.S. and Russian teams studying the lake should be careful when drilling because high gas concentrations could make the water unstable and potentially dangerous," said Dr. Chris McKay of NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley.

Serious doom potential!

Well, barring any delays, they should breach the lake tomorrow.

Yeah, just think of the microbes that could be released...

...if we don't know whats down there,how do we know it's "teeming" with life ?...

I wonder if all the weird noises the last days and especially this January heard across the globe could have something to do with that drilling and pressure being released? Sure is interesting and I'm going to watch this wide eyed bushy tailed.
Thanks for keeping us updated OP!

They have come close to breaching the lake and with recovered ice samples have already discovered microbes.

Here is another link (older I think). Very good Read though.

[link to www.enterprisemission.com]

The Lake, which is still liquid and not frozen, has been isolated under the ice sheet since anywhere from 13,000 to 14 million years ago, depending on who you talk to (thus, who's estimating precisely "when" the ice last completely covered the Continent). The water in the Lake (determined by surface thermal scans) ranges from 50 to 65 degrees F, clearly indicating a sub-terranean heat source. In addition, the whole Lake is covered by a sloping air "dome" several thousand feet high that has formed (from the "hot" water melting the overlying ice) just above the Lake's surface. Core samples taken by the Russians a couple years ago at their Vostok Base -- when they drilled down very close to the bottom of the ice sheet -- have revealed the presence of microbes, nutrients and various gases -- like methane -- embedded in the clear, refrozen Lake water just above the "dome." Such items are typical signatures of biological processes. The Lake, therefore, has all the ingredients of an incredible scientific find: a completely "isolated" eco-system -- water, heat, respired gases and (judging from the unique microorganisms that scientists were actually able to culture in the United States and Russia, when retrieved from their icy prison) ... current biological activity. As the actual scope and composition of the Lake became clearer from about 1998 on, NASA began to see it as an ideal test bed for its eventual plans to drill through the ice and search the oceans of Jupiter's moon, Europa. Accordingly, JPL received NASA grants to develop unique "sterile" drilling technology, conduct actually drilling and probe experiments in other terrestrial environments, and to prepare a Plan to actually enter Lake Vostok by 2002.

But, coincident with a stunning new discovery, JPL has evidently now backed off these ambitious exploration plans.

According to Scientific American, the National Science Foundation has now suddenly cancelled plans to penetrate the Lake with a robotic probe by that target date: 2002. The ostensible reason is "concern over environmental contamination." As noted earlier, core samples returned from the ice refrozen just 100 yards above the Lake's "air dome," contained a plethora of microorganismins of various categories, including some never seen before.

They don't, thats why they are drilling. The conditions are right to support life, but they won't know for sure until they crack it open. I have a bad feeling they are about to open Pandora's box. I am not so worried about what they will or will not find in the lake, as I am about disturbing a primordial balance in this ecosystem, which in turn could affect the balance of this planet.

should i bring in my tomatoes !!!!

I wouldn't only bring them in, I'd eat some and can the rest for a rainy day.

Methane could explain why the warm water has not consumed the glacier, but also could pose an enormous danger. Imagine a methane explosion that size, at the depth. It would be like embedding a stick of dynamite in a watermelon.

Ss

I read somewhere the reason, but my internet is down and I can't look up the sources as easily on my phone. But, im sure you can find the answer on the net, well at least theories.

Yes I believe there is something to the idea that masscon is magnetised.

[link to science.nasa.gov]
Lunar mascons make most low lunar orbits unstable," says Konopliv. As a satellite passes 50 or 60 miles overhead, the mascons pull it forward, back, left, right, or down, the exact direction and magnitude of the tugging depends on the satellite's trajectory. Absent any periodic boosts from onboard rockets to correct the orbit, most satellites released into low lunar orbits (under about 60 miles or 100 km) will eventually crash into the Moon. PFS-2 released by Apollo 16 was simply a dramatic worst-case example. But even its longer-lived predecessor PFS-1 (released by Apollo 15) literally bit the dust in January 1973 after less than a year and a half.

What type of antifreeze did they use that they could remove it? The only form I am familiar with is liquid.

SickScent this question is for you if you don't mind.
What happens when the water comes up the pipe and hits the frigid air? I know what happens when I throw it in the air here when it is -40. Heck I can do it today. But what will the pressure do to it. Will it turn into ice shard weapons, courtesy of mother nature? If the answer has already been posted, sorry, I admit I didn't read the whole thread. Thanks.

Well they didn't say Methane dome.

the whole Lake is covered by a sloping air "dome" several thousand feet high that has formed (from the "hot" water melting the overlying ice) just above the Lake's surface.

but, if it is a Methane pocket above the lake it could be seriously dangerous ground their treading on.

Which seal was it being broken that released the plague?

From what I read it is highly magnetised. So much so, our satellites picked it up. This mascon is huge though, roughly 65 miles square. Wow!

I thought the same thing, Kilometers, maybe?

It's Russian tech, cmon!