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Physical, chemical and biological processes in Lake Vostok and other Antarctic subglacial lakes

Nature volume 414, pages 603–609 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

Over 70 lakes have now been identified beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. Although water from none of the lakes has been sampled directly, analysis of lake ice frozen (accreted) to the underside of the ice sheet above Lake Vostok, the largest of these lakes, has allowed inferences to be made on lake water chemistry and has revealed small quantities of microbes. These findings suggest that Lake Vostok is an extreme, yet viable, environment for life. All subglacial lakes are subject to high pressure (∼350 atmospheres), low temperatures (about -3 °C) and permanent darkness. Any microbes present must therefore use chemical sources to power biological processes. Importantly, dissolved oxygen is available at least at the lake surface, from equilibration with air hydrates released from melting basal glacier ice. Microbes found in Lake Vostok's accreted ice are relatively modern, but the probability of ancient lake-floor sediments leads to a possibility of a very old biota at the base of subglacial lakes.

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Figure 1: The technique of airborne radio-echo sounding, and its application to identifying Lake Vostok and other subglacial lakes.
Figure 2: The dimensions and topographic setting of Lake Vostok.
Figure 3: Ice sheet cross-sections along the line of ice flow from the ice divide, across Lake Vostok, to the Vostok ice core.
Figure 4: Water circulation patterns within Lake Vostok under fresh and saline conditions.
Figure 5: A microscope image of a gas hydrate (or clathrate) structure found in Lake Vostok's accreted ice 3,566 m below the ice-sheet surface, which is 174 m above the lake surface.
Figure 6: Images of bacteria frozen into Lake Vostok's accreted ice6.

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Acknowledgements

Many of the ideas developed in this review were formed during discussions at the International Conference on Antarctic Subglacial Lakes (1999), and two other international workshops: “Lake Vostok Study: Scientific Objectives and Technological Requirements” (1998); and “Lake Vostok: a curiosity or a focus for interdisciplinary study?” (1998). We thank the sponsors and organizers of these meetings (see http://salegos-scar.montana.edu).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bristol Glaciology Centre, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1SS, UK

    Martin J. Siegert & Martyn Tranter

  2. Biosciences Division, Freshwater Ecology Group, British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK

    J. Cynan Ellis-Evans

  3. Institute for Meteorology and Geophysics, University of Innsbruck, Innrain 52, Innsbruck, A-6020, Austria

    Christoph Mayer

  4. Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l'Environnement, CNRS, BP96, Saint Martin d'Hères Cedex, 38402, France

    Jean-Robert Petit

  5. Department of Applied Mathematics, Kazan State University, 18 Kremlyevskaya Str., Kazan, 420008, Russia

    Andrey Salamatin

  6. Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, 334 Leon Johnson Hall, Bozeman, 59717, Montana, USA

    John C. Priscu

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Correspondence to Martin J. Siegert.

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Siegert, M., Ellis-Evans, J., Tranter, M. et al. Physical, chemical and biological processes in Lake Vostok and other Antarctic subglacial lakes. Nature 414, 603–609 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/414603a

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