Vostok, a new goal

2005/07/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Geologia

The Russians begin again to drill the ice that covers the lake. Lake Vostok, located under an ice layer of more than 3,600 meters, has no contact with the atmosphere for 15-35 million years. For this reason, scientists have a huge interest in knowing what kind of living things can be under ice. In the 1990s, the Russians paralyzed excavations at 130 metres in height, and have announced that 50 metres more will now be excavated. They seem to have invented a way to avoid water contamination with external microorganisms and want to get to water by 2007-2008.