Russian Team Prepares To Penetrate Lake Vostok

Lanxon writes "Lake Vostok, which has been sealed off from the world for 14 million years, is about to be penetrated by a Russian drill bit. The lake, which lies four kilometers below the icy surface of Antarctica, is unique in that it's been completely isolated from the other 150 subglacial lakes on the continent for such a long time. It's also oligotropic, meaning that it's supersaturated with oxygen — levels of the element are 50 times higher than those found in most typical freshwater lakes."

Comments

Anybody else feel like this is a bad idea?

[Cheerio Boy]

I mean we're going to contaminate something that's been isolated for a long long time.

Once you pop that bubble so to speak the place will never be the same. And what's the chance that there's organisms that are harmful to our current ecosystems? Can I get a "whatcouldpossiblygowrong" tag?

Re:Look Up

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

She became interested about the time this story mentioned "penetration".

In Soviet Russia, Ice Penetrates YOU!