Deep Beneath Antarctic Ice, Russians Close to Reaching Sub-Glacial Lake

After punching through more than two miles of Antarctic ice, a Russian drilling team is just 100 feet from the surface of an enormous sub-glacial lake that has not been disturbed for millions of years. The New Jersey-sized Lake Vostok — the third-largest lake in the world, by water volume — sits just below Russia’s Vostok Station, the site of the coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth: -128 degrees F. The Russians have been working on this drilling project for more than a decade after an initial bore hole reached 2.2 miles below the ice, revealing a slice of Earth’s climate history going back 800,000 years. At the bottom, the Russians discovered ice indicating that a body of water might be below. At the same time satellite photos clearly showed the outline of a massive lake. Scientists believe they may find ancient microbes in the lake. But others have been critical of the drilling project, saying the Russians are polluting the pristine Antarctic by using more than 14,000 gallons of kerosene and Freon to keep the hole from freezing shut. The drilling team may not reach the lake this season, as work is expected to shut down in a week because of extreme temperatures as winter approaches.