Chapter 04 of 5
The Subglacial Oasis
Discover how life thrives in the pitch-black, frozen depths of Antarctica's Lake Vostok.
- The Discovery
A Hidden Giant
Beneath four kilometers of Antarctic ice lies Lake Vostok, a freshwater body the size of Lake Ontario. It wasn't fully mapped until satellite radar confirmed its existence in the 1990s.
- The Deep Freeze
Timeless Isolation
The lake has been sealed off from the Earth's atmosphere for at least 15 million years. It is a time capsule of an ancient, pre-glacial environment.
- Liquid State
The Pressure Factor
Why isn't it frozen solid? The massive weight of the ice above lowers the freezing point, while geothermal heat from below warms the water.
17 more cards in this chapter
Could you answer this?
What primary factors keep Lake Vostok in a liquid state despite being buried under two miles of ice?
🧬 Life at the Absolute Edge
- 01The Indestructible Water BearDiscover how tardigrades defy death through the magic of cryptobiosis.
- 02The Chemosynthetic AbyssDiscover life thriving on toxic chemicals in the ocean's lightless depths.
- 03Conan the BacteriumMeet the world's toughest microbe, surviving radiation that would melt human DNA.
- 04The Subglacial OasisDiscover how life thrives in the pitch-black, frozen depths of Antarctica's Lake Vostok.
- 05The Cosmic BlueprintDiscover how Earth's toughest microbes redraw the map for finding life in the stars.