Using an innovative analysis method, Chinese scientists discovered 46 subglacial lakes under the ice layer covering the surface in East Antarctica (South Pole).
The South Pole region is covered with a large ice layer with an average thickness of 2,400 meters and there are many lakes under this layer. According to Tang Xueyuan, leader of a research group at the Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC), these lakes were formed under the subglacial layer by melting ice streams on the seabed debris rocks.
Studying subglacial lakes in Antarctica is extremely important for understanding ice sheet dynamics, sedimentary processes, subglacial geochemical cycles, as well as the evolution of life, Tang said.
The research in question was carried out by teams from the China Polar Research Institute, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) and Southern University of Science and Technology. On the other hand, according to current statistical data, scientists around the world have found a total of 675 subglacial lakes under the ice sheet in Antarctica, and 3 of them have been successfully reached by drilling and samples were taken.