Race Is on to Find Life Under Antarctic Ice
Race Is on to Find Life Under Antarctic Ice
A hundred years ago, two teams of explorers set out to be the first people ever to reach the South Pole. The race between Roald Amundsen of Norway and Robert Falcon Scott of Britain became the stuff of triumph, tragedy, and legend. (See rare pictures of Scott’s expedition.)
Today, another Antarctic drama is underway that has a similar daring and intensity—but very different stakes.
Three unprecedented, major expeditions are underway to drill deep through the ice covering the continent and, researchers hope, penetrate three subglacial lakes not even known to exist until recently.
The three players—Russia, Britain, and the United States—are all on the ice now and are in varying stages of their preparations. The first drilling was attempted last week by the British team at Lake Ellsworth, but mechanical problems soon cropped up in the unforgiving Antarctic cold, putting a temporary hold on their work.
The key scientific goal of the missions: to discover and identify living organisms in Antarctica’s dark, pristine, and hidden recesses. (See “Antarctica May Contain ‘Oasis of Life.’”)
Scientists believe the lakes may well be home to the kind of “extreme” life that could eke out an existence on other planets or moons of our solar system, so finding them on Earth could help significantly in the search for life elsewhere.