A large deep freshwater lake beneath the ice of central East Antarctica

Article Abstract:

The freshwater lake present below the ice in East Antarctica has a mean depth of 125 m and the mean age of its water is one million years. Altimetric, radio-echo and seismic data show that its area is comparable to that of Lake Ontario. The mean residence time of the lake water is 50,000 years and the mean inflow is almost 3 m/yr. The ice-water contact temperature in the south is 0.4 degree celsius higher than that in the north. This causes circulation in the water and changes the basal heat flow distribution. Melting of the basal ice releases microorganisms deposited in the ice one million years ago.

Cover Story

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A great lake under the ice

Article Abstract:

The Lake Vostok present below a moving ice sheet in central Antarctica is 200 km long and up to 500 m deep. The difference in the ice melting point at the upstream and downstream ends probably produces circulation and the release of compressed atmospheric gases into the lake. The lake lacks salts and the water temperature is just below zero degrees celsius. The ice core of Vostok contains many different microbes that stay viable in the ice for over 3,000 years. The lake probably contains microbes that developed more than 500,000 years ago and have been isolated from local and global changes.

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What's eating the free lunch?

Article Abstract:

Strous and colleagues have described the cultivation and partial characterization of an anammox organism. Its molecular sequence data suggests that it may be a distant relative of the planctomycetes group, which have unusual features such as cell division by budding and complex internal membrane structures. The anammox organism also divides by budding and has internal membranes, and it is proposed that the membrane structure may protect the cell from hydrazine and hydroxylamine.

Observations, Microbiological research

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