Subglacial Lake Vostok is a lake occupying a topographic hollow beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Water occurs at high pressure beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet and accumulates in topographic hollows. This hollow may have formed during pre-glacial or glacial times and is tectonically controlled. So, a lake may or may not have formed here during pre-glacial times and it is likely to have been below sea level. It has been continuously covered with ice for at least the last 15 million years.
The image above is a cartoon of drilling into Lake Vostok. By Nicolle Rager-Fuller/ NSF.
Some statistics about the lake:
- Surface elevation: -500 m
- Area: 15,690 km²
- Length: 250 km
- Width: 50 km
- Mean depth: 344 m
More information here.
Scientists want to spend billions of dollars exploring Mars, when in fact Antarctica
has some pretty wild secrets waiting to be unlocked and are relatively right under our noses and for 1/1000th the cost.