A RACE has begun to reach one of the last unexplored regions on Earth: the cold, dark waters of sub-glacial lakes in Antarctica.
For years, Russian researchers have been drilling down to Lake Vostok, 4 kilometres beneath the East Antarctic ice sheet, but they have yet to reach water.
They now have competition. A consortium of nine UK universities plus the British Antarctic Survey and the National Oceanography Centre got funding this week for a project to drill through the West Antarctic ice sheet to reach Lake Ellsworth, which is about 3 kilometres beneath the surface.
For years, Russian researchers have been drilling down to Lake Vostok, 4 kilometres beneath the East Antarctic ice sheet, but they have yet to reach water.
They now have competition. A consortium of nine UK universities plus the British Antarctic Survey and the National Oceanography Centre got funding this week for a project to drill through the West Antarctic ice sheet to reach Lake Ellsworth, which is about 3 kilometres beneath the surface.
Full story on NewScientist
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