A huge 500m deep Antarctic lake covering an area twice the size of Yorkshire and having enough water to provide London its water needs for 5,000 years lies under an ice sheet four kilometres deep.
Lake Vostok, was discovered beneath a Russian research station about 30 years ago but its immense size became apparent when satellite and seismic measurements were taken in the early 1990s.
This vast lake is completely sealed off from our world,
which has led to innumerable questions. Does life exist there?
About 150 such subglacial lakes
are believed to be locked beneath the giant ice sheets of Antarctica. The crushing pressure from the thick East Antarctic ice sheet,the biggest in the world keeps Vostok from freezing up.
There is a constant debate going on whether to intensify research at the cost of dangering any life there (if any) to resolve the unanswered questions.
Do check out the source for a very enlightening piece of environmental information and the methods by which research is being done there.
Source : The Statesman