Lake Vostok, in Antarctica, has become the stuff of legend. Some have told stories of an alien ship buried underneath its frozen waters, a vessel so large, it is some 80 km long they say; something akin to the Spaceship Enterprise. That however, is still a legend.
Scientists too, are fascinated by the large body of water hidden underneath two plus miles of ice. In its water are contained the secrets of life. Organisms, living and not, that call tell us what life was and is and might be.
Lake Vostok is a very large lake. As a subsurface lake, it might be home to innumerable organisms, and some fish too.
A similar feature as the subsurface lakes of Europa and Enceladus, it was probably cut off from the atmosphere and open air for more than 15 million years.
The Lake however, did not die when it was entombed by ice.
More than 3,500 different DNA sequences have been obtained and classified from samples dredged up from the lake. Mostly were bacterial type, but there also eukaryotes, a more complex organism and mononuclear life forms as well.
Other sequences instead speak of life in a more varied form. Arthropods, springtails, sea lice, water fleas and mollusks, all complex lifeforms.
There are also a few fungi. Some of the bacteria in the water are fish gut borne, in other words they are excreted by fish, indicating the presence of even higher life forms.
During the warmer period, 35 million years ago, Lake Vostok was open air, chock a block with life, and surrounded by lush vegetation.
The Lake is about 160 miles by 30 miles in size. Its depth is estimated at around 1000 feet.
Some of the DNA also revealed the type of organisms that thrive in the proximity of underwater thermal vents, indicating the very real possibility that there is volcanic activity underneath the lake.
Source : NBC news Science/ Alan Boyle - Science Editor/ 7.8.13
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