Yes! You read it right. A hidden lake has been recently discovered which could contain species isolated for millions of years.
Antarctica is icy, barren and windswept landscape today. But years ago, the place was home to thriving forests and dinosaurs. Antarctica has a breath-taking landscape that repletes with rivers, lakes, and massive canyons. The past is buried underneath the layers of ice, which are waiting to be explored in the forms of fossils. Who knows, we could even find ancient creatures still living beneath the continent’s cold glacial cap?
Recently, a discovery has been made that could reveal Antarctica’s secrets: a massive, 62-mile long, ribbon-shaped subglacial liquid lake. The finding echoes the discovery of Lake Vostok in the latter half of 20th century; another Antarctic subglacial lake from which the samples have been taken that contains evidence of life. It is close to the research station and can easily be probed for life.
The lake is unusually grooved on a large scale indicating the potential presence of liquid water below. It is connected to the present largest canyon system of the Earth. Subterranean channels leading away from the lake might still funnel flowing water into the ocean many miles away.
It is said that the lake might be 25 million years old and scientists say that it could still have ancient life forms surviving within it. Because scientists could discover creatures in Lake Vostok, it increases the odds that alien-like creatures may be lurking in these icy waters too that were capable of surviving in such a frigid habitat.
Revealing the secrets of Antarctica may take time, but it is exciting to know that there are still frontiers to be explored right here on the Earth.
