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There are hundreds of '''antarctic lakes''', in [[Antarctica]].<ref name=appeal/><ref name=Nature2010-03-23/><ref name=newscientist2014-08-20/><ref name=NasaLakes/><ref name=antarcticglaciersLakes/><ref name=livescience2014-08-20/>
#REDIRECT[[List of lakes#Antarctica]]
In 2018 researchers at the [[Alfred Wegener Institute]]'s [[Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research]] published a study they claimed cast doubt on earlier estimate that there were almost 400 subglacial antarctic lakes.<ref name=sciencedaily2018-11-07/> Antarctica also has some relatively small regions that are clear of ice and snow, and there are some surface lakes in these regions. They called for on the ground seismic studies, or drilling, to determine a more reliable number.

These lakes are buried beneath deep layers of glacial ice.<ref name=appeal/><ref name=Nature2010-03-23/><ref name=newscientist2014-08-20/> When a glacier is very thick, the pressure at the bottom is great enough that liquid water can exist at temperatures where water would freeze, at regular pressures. The ice above [[Lake Vostok]], the largest antarctic lake, is approximately 4 kilometres thick.

Scientists studying the lakes, by careful drilling and water sampling, suggest conditions there may resemble the oceans believed to exist on [[planet Jupiter]]'s moon [[Europa (moon)|Europa]].<ref name=Nature2010-03-23/><ref name=newscientist2014-08-20/>

==Selected Antarctic lakes==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Selected Antarctic lakes
|-
! name || surface<br>area || depth || volume || below<br>surface || notes
|-
| [[Ablation Lake]] || || {{convert|117|m|ft}}+ || || {{convert|500|m|ft}} ||
* The lake contains both saline and freshwater layers.<ref name=Frs1977-05-26/><ref name=UsgsAblation/>
|-
| [[Algae Lake]] || || || || ||
* An ice-free lakes in the ice-free [[Bunker Hills]] highlands.
|-
| [[Amphitheatre Lake (Antarctica)|Amphitheatre Lake]] || || || || ||
* A surface lake.
|-
| [[Beaver Lake (Antarctica)|Beaver Lake]] || || || || ||
* A surface lake, near a "stagnant" glacier, its name derives from the STOL [[Beaver aircraft]] used to supply a nearby base, not from the presence of actual beavers.
|-
| [[Lake Boeckella]] || || || || ||
* A surface lake, named for the crustaceans from the genus [[Boeckella]] it hosts.
|-
| [[Lake Burton (Antarctica)|Lake Burton]] || {{convert|1.35|km2|mi2}} || || {{convert|9690000|m3|cuft}} || ||
* a meromictic and saline lagoon
|-
| [[Changing Lake]] || || || || ||
* One of three surface lakes on [[Signy Island]].
|-
| [[Concordia Subglacial Lake|Concordia Lake]] || {{convert|900|sqkm|sqmi}} || || || {{convert|4|km|mi}} ||
* A large subglacial lake, discovered in 1999.<ref name=UsgsConcordia/>
* In 2009 it was the second largest subglacial lake to be studied.<ref name=ScienceDirect2009-08-30/>
|-
| [[Lake Ellsworth (Antarctica)|Lake Ellsworth]] || || || || ||
|-
| [[Forlidas Pond]] || || || || ||
* This small pond is the only pond in the northern Pensacola Mountains.<ref name=UsgsForlidasPond/>
|-
| [[Lake Whillans]] || || || || || ||
|}

==References==
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<ref name=Glaciology2009>
{{cite news
| url = https://www.igsoc.org/journal/55/192/j09J034.pdf
| title = An inventory of active subglacial lakes in Antarctica detected by ICESat (2003–2008)
| author = Benjamin E. Smith, Helen A. Fricker, Ian R. Joughin, Slawek Tulaczyk
| work = [[Journal of Glaciology]]
| date = 2009
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<ref name=appeal>
{{cite web
| url = http://www.asoc.org/storage/documents/Other_publications/asoc_vostok_statement041408.pdf
| title = Appeal to the Duma on Lake Vostok, Antarctica
| date = 14 April 2008
| work = [[Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition]]
| format = PDF
| accessdate= 10 February 2011
}}
</ref>

<ref name=Nature2010-03-23>
{{cite news
| url = https://www.nature.com/news/2010/100323/full/464472b.html
| title = Teams set for first taste of Antarctic lakes
| work = [[Nature (journal)]]
| author = Quirin Schiermeier
| date = 2010-03-23
| page =
| location =
| isbn =
| language =
| trans_title =
| archiveurl =
| archivedate =
| accessdate = 2018-12-06
| deadurl = No
| quote = Over the past 40 years, radar imagery has revealed around 150 freshwater lakes of various sizes and ages beneath the massive Antarctic ice sheet. Some have been isolated from the outside world for millions of years, raising the possibility that they hold unique life forms. The dark, nutrient-deprived environment of the lakes could resemble conditions on Jupiter's moon Europa, which is assumed to hold a large ocean beneath its frozen surface.
}}
</ref>

<ref name=newscientist2014-08-20>
{{cite news
| url = https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22329834-200-first-samples-of-antarctic-lake-reveal-thriving-life/
| title = First samples of Antarctic lake reveal thriving life
| work = [[New Scientist magazine]]
| author = Peter Aldhous
| date = 2014-08-20
| page =
| location =
| isbn =
| language =
| trans_title =
| archiveurl =
| archivedate =
| accessdate = 2018-12-06
| deadurl = No
| quote = Antarctica is home to about 400 subglacial lakes, many of which are linked in drainage basins. Priscu calls it {{'}}the planet’s largest wetland{{'}}.
}}
</ref>

<ref name=Frs1977-05-26>
{{cite journal
| url = https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2417750.pdf?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
| title = A Limnological survey of the Ablation Point area, Alexander Island, Antarctica
| work = [[Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London]]
| author = R.B. Heywood
| date = 1977-05-26
| page = 39-54
| location =
| isbn =
| language =
| trans_title =
| archiveurl =
| archivedate =
| accessdate = 2018-12-06
| deadurl = No
| quote = Two of the lakes are unusual in that they are in contact with seawater from George VI Sound which is covered by an ice shelf, 100-500 m thick, and which separates Alexander Island from the Antarctic mainland.
}}
</ref>

<ref name=UsgsAblation>
{{cite news
| url = https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=gnispq:5:0::NO::P5_ANTAR_ID:23
| title = Antarctica Detail: Ablation Lake
| work = [[US Geographic Service]]
| author =
| date =
| page =
| location =
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| language =
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| archiveurl =
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| accessdate = 2018-12-06
| deadurl = No
| quote = A pro-glacial tidal lake in Ablation Valley, Alexander Island, with stratified saline and fresh water and depths exceeding 117 meters. The feature is dammed in the upper portion by ice that pushes into the lake from the adjacent George VI Ice Shelf. Named after the valley following British Antarctic Survey (BAS) limnological research from 1973.
}}
</ref>

<ref name=UsgsConcordia>
{{cite news
| url = https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=gnispq:5:::NO::P5_ANTAR_ID:18527
| title = Antarctica Detail: Concordia Subglacial Lake
| work = [[US Geographic Service]]
| author =
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| location =
| isbn =
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| quote = <!-- Subglacial lake located beneath an ice sheet 4000 m to 4100m thick. It has a surface of about 900 square km and is 250m deep. The surface of the water has an elevation from 800 to 950m below the sea level. --> First located in Dec. 1999. The name derives from the nearby Italian Concordia research station.
}}
</ref>

<ref name=UsgsForlidasPond>
{{cite news
| url = https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=gnispq:5:::NO::P5_ANTAR_ID:5140
| title = Antarctica Detail: Forlidas Pond
| work = [[US Geographic Service]]
| author =
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| quote = <!-- A round frozen pond, 100 m in diameter, lying in a morainal valley E of the N end of Forlidas Ridge, Dufek Massif. --> The only pond in the northern Pensacola Mountains, it is of much interest to biologists. <!-- The pond was discovered and briefly investigated in December 1957 by a US-IGY party from Ellsworth Station. The name is in association with Forlidas Ridge and was suggested by Arthur B. Ford of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) following geological work in the area, 1978-79. -->
}}
</ref>

<ref name=antarcticglaciersLakes>
{{cite news
| url = http://www.antarcticglaciers.org/glacier-processes/glacier-hydrology/
| title = Glacier hydrology
| work = [[Antarctic Glaciers]]
| author = Bethan Davies
| date = 2018-06-11
| page =
| location =
| isbn =
| language =
| trans_title =
| archiveurl =
| archivedate =
| accessdate = 2018-12-06
| deadurl = No
| quote = Beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet, these subglacial drainage channels are connected to numerous subglacial lakes.
}}
</ref>

<ref name=sciencedaily2018-11-07>
{{cite news
| url = https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181107103600.htm
| title = Far fewer lakes below the East Antarctic Ice Sheet than previously believed
| work = [[Science Daily magazine]]
| author =
| date = 2018-11-07
| page =
| location =
| isbn =
| language =
| trans_title =
| archiveurl =
| archivedate =
| accessdate = 2018-12-06
| deadurl = No
| quote = Thanks to our data, we can now fill in some of the blank spots on the map of Antarctica." However, when it comes to large lakes -- they had expected to find ones as large as Lake Constance -- the scientists came up empty-handed, even though they analysed the radar data for every known lake criterion.
}}
</ref>

<ref name=livescience2014-08-20>
{{cite news
| url = https://www.livescience.com/47461-lake-whillans-species-antarctica-life.html
| title = Cold, Dark and Alive! Life Discovered in Buried Antarctic Lake
| work = [[Livescience magazine]]
| author = Becky Oskin
| date = 2014-08-20
| page =
| location =
| isbn =
| language =
| trans_title =
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| quote = Nearly 4,000 species of microbes inhabit Lake Whillans, which lies beneath 2,625 feet (800 meters) of ice in West Antarctica, researchers report today (Aug. 20) in the journal Nature. These are the first organisms ever retrieved from a subglacial Antarctic lake.
}}
</ref>

<ref name=ScienceDirect2009-08-30>
{{cite news
| url = https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X0900380X
| title = Modelling flow and accreted ice in subglacial Lake Concordia, Antarctica
Author links open overlay panelb
Show more
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2009.06.037
| work = [[Science Direct magazine]]
| author = Malte Thoma, Klaus Grosfeld, Irina Filina, Christoph Mayer
| date = 2009-08-30
| page =
| location =
| isbn =
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| quote = This paper focuses on Lake Concordia — the second largest subglacial lake in Antarctica over which substantial geophysical data has been collected. This lake is covered by about 4000 m ice and is located near Dome C.
}}
</ref>

<ref name=NasaLakes>
{{cite news
| url = https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/7615/lakes-drain-under-antarctic-ice-sheet
| title = Lakes Drain under Antarctic Ice Sheet
| work = [[NASA]]
| author =
| date =
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[[Category:Lakes of Antarctica]]

Revision as of 17:25, 8 December 2018

There are hundreds of antarctic lakes, in Antarctica.[1][2][3][4][5][6] In 2018 researchers at the Alfred Wegener Institute's Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research published a study they claimed cast doubt on earlier estimate that there were almost 400 subglacial antarctic lakes.[7] Antarctica also has some relatively small regions that are clear of ice and snow, and there are some surface lakes in these regions. They called for on the ground seismic studies, or drilling, to determine a more reliable number.

These lakes are buried beneath deep layers of glacial ice.[1][2][3] When a glacier is very thick, the pressure at the bottom is great enough that liquid water can exist at temperatures where water would freeze, at regular pressures. The ice above Lake Vostok, the largest antarctic lake, is approximately 4 kilometres thick.

Scientists studying the lakes, by careful drilling and water sampling, suggest conditions there may resemble the oceans believed to exist on planet Jupiter's moon Europa.[2][3]

Selected Antarctic lakes

Selected Antarctic lakes
name surface
area		 depth volume below
surface		 notes
Ablation Lake 117 metres (384 ft)+ 500 metres (1,600 ft)
  • The lake contains both saline and freshwater layers.[8][9]
Algae Lake
Amphitheatre Lake
  • A surface lake.
Beaver Lake
  • A surface lake, near a "stagnant" glacier, its name derives from the STOL Beaver aircraft used to supply a nearby base, not from the presence of actual beavers.
Lake Boeckella
  • A surface lake, named for the crustaceans from the genus Boeckella it hosts.
Lake Burton 1.35 square kilometres (0.52 sq mi) 9,690,000 cubic metres (342,000,000 cu ft)
  • a meromictic and saline lagoon
Changing Lake
Concordia Lake 900 square kilometres (350 sq mi) 4 kilometres (2.5 mi)
  • A large subglacial lake, discovered in 1999.[10]
  • In 2009 it was the second largest subglacial lake to be studied.[11]
Lake Ellsworth
Forlidas Pond
  • This small pond is the only pond in the northern Pensacola Mountains.[12]
Lake Whillans

References

  1. ^ a b "Appeal to the Duma on Lake Vostok, Antarctica" (PDF). Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition. 14 April 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
  2. ^ a b c Quirin Schiermeier (2010-03-23). "Teams set for first taste of Antarctic lakes". Nature (journal). Retrieved 2018-12-06. Over the past 40 years, radar imagery has revealed around 150 freshwater lakes of various sizes and ages beneath the massive Antarctic ice sheet. Some have been isolated from the outside world for millions of years, raising the possibility that they hold unique life forms. The dark, nutrient-deprived environment of the lakes could resemble conditions on Jupiter's moon Europa, which is assumed to hold a large ocean beneath its frozen surface. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b c Peter Aldhous (2014-08-20). "First samples of Antarctic lake reveal thriving life". New Scientist magazine. Retrieved 2018-12-06. Antarctica is home to about 400 subglacial lakes, many of which are linked in drainage basins. Priscu calls it 'the planet’s largest wetland'. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Lakes Drain under Antarctic Ice Sheet". NASA. Retrieved 2018-12-06. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Bethan Davies (2018-06-11). "Glacier hydrology". Antarctic Glaciers. Retrieved 2018-12-06. Beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet, these subglacial drainage channels are connected to numerous subglacial lakes. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Becky Oskin (2014-08-20). "Cold, Dark and Alive! Life Discovered in Buried Antarctic Lake". Livescience magazine. Retrieved 2018-12-06. Nearly 4,000 species of microbes inhabit Lake Whillans, which lies beneath 2,625 feet (800 meters) of ice in West Antarctica, researchers report today (Aug. 20) in the journal Nature. These are the first organisms ever retrieved from a subglacial Antarctic lake. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Far fewer lakes below the East Antarctic Ice Sheet than previously believed". Science Daily magazine. 2018-11-07. Retrieved 2018-12-06. Thanks to our data, we can now fill in some of the blank spots on the map of Antarctica." However, when it comes to large lakes -- they had expected to find ones as large as Lake Constance -- the scientists came up empty-handed, even though they analysed the radar data for every known lake criterion. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ R.B. Heywood (1977-05-26). "A Limnological survey of the Ablation Point area, Alexander Island, Antarctica" (PDF). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London: 39-54. Retrieved 2018-12-06. Two of the lakes are unusual in that they are in contact with seawater from George VI Sound which is covered by an ice shelf, 100-500 m thick, and which separates Alexander Island from the Antarctic mainland. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Antarctica Detail: Ablation Lake". US Geographic Service. Retrieved 2018-12-06. A pro-glacial tidal lake in Ablation Valley, Alexander Island, with stratified saline and fresh water and depths exceeding 117 meters. The feature is dammed in the upper portion by ice that pushes into the lake from the adjacent George VI Ice Shelf. Named after the valley following British Antarctic Survey (BAS) limnological research from 1973. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "Antarctica Detail: Concordia Subglacial Lake". US Geographic Service. Retrieved 2018-12-06. First located in Dec. 1999. The name derives from the nearby Italian Concordia research station. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Malte Thoma, Klaus Grosfeld, Irina Filina, Christoph Mayer (2009-08-30). "Modelling flow and accreted ice in subglacial Lake Concordia, Antarctica Author links open overlay panelb Show more https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2009.06.037". Science Direct magazine. Retrieved 2018-12-06. This paper focuses on Lake Concordia — the second largest subglacial lake in Antarctica over which substantial geophysical data has been collected. This lake is covered by about 4000 m ice and is located near Dome C. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help); External link in |title= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); line feed character in |title= at position 73 (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ "Antarctica Detail: Forlidas Pond". US Geographic Service. Retrieved 2018-12-06. The only pond in the northern Pensacola Mountains, it is of much interest to biologists. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
Cite error: A list-defined reference named "Glaciology2009" is not used in the content (see the help page).
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