The first ice sample from the subsurface Sub-Glacial Lake Vostok on Antarctica has been retrieved successfully, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute said.
A water sample in form of ice is reported of 2 meters long, obtained on January 10 during a Russian ice drilling project while penetrating Antarctica’s ice sheet at a depth of 3,406 meters above 20 million year old Lake Vostok.
Almost a year ago, in February 2012 Russian scientists had examined water samples received after drilled deep into the lake, but not sure whether these samples were of lake water.
Therefore, researchers decided to drill into the glacier once again in January 2013 to get ice right from the lake.
The success is the outcome of a long 23 year effort help to reveal the secrets of ice sealed Lake Vostok, new forms of life and will show how life evolved before the ice age.
The Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute said to determine the ice layer, origin of the new core of Lake Vostok that may have special physical properties , being different from those of ordinary ice.
One of the world largest lakes, Vostok is the largest of Antarctica’s buried network of icebound lakes and to have been effectively isolated from the outside world for at least 100,000 years.
