Dear South Pole Geophysicist,

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Apparently you guys gave a huge lake down there under the ice full of water from prehistoric times. Last I heard, scientists were trying to figure out how to get a sample of the water, but were afraid of contaminating it with modern organisms. I know this isn't your area of expertise, but I was wondering if you know if a solution has been found, and if so, if anything interesting has been found in the water.

Yours,
Kiril

Dear Kiril,

The lake you're thinking of is Lake Vostok, which is under the Russian Vostok base to the north of us here at South Pole. From what I understand, they have not yet penetrated the ice into the lake yet for fear of contamination as well as lacking the proper equipment.. Also, the Russians might not have the budget to do it yet. Vostok was shut down this winter due to the lack of funding, which shows how things are going as far as Russian basic research. I think that as far as technical solutions go, there are some things that are going to be tried in the near future, but not this year at least. Basically what they want to do is to be able to drill into the ice while maintaining a sterile environment utilizing a mechanical system that will keep Lake Vostok where it is and not potentially explode outward like a cork on a champagne bottle. It's believed that there's a lot of gas dissolved in the water and dealing with that pressure while being able to sample and explore that region while keeping it pristine is something that hasn't been completely worked out yet as far as I know. I also think there's some cooperative work going on with other planetary scientists who are looking at this as an opportunity to test equipment that might be used in the exploration of Europa, which is looking like it possesses a liquid ocean beneath it's icy exterior. So there's interest and preparations, but I don't know their timetables as far as when they'll actually try to drill into the lake.

Since this region hasn't been explored yet, I don't think anyone is qualified to say what they'll find. I think at the very least, they will find some new microorganisms that have been isolated for a very long time. If there's volcanic activity in certain sections of the lake (volcanic vents for example), there's the possibility for some very exotic ecosystems that may have developed in this extreme isolation similar to those found around volcanic vents in the deep ocean that are based on inorganic chemical synthesis rather than sunlight driven photosynthetic systems that you normally see around the earth. But what creatures that might make up these systems is anyone's guess right now. I think it'll be a matter of knowing what started out there when the lake was still uncovered and how those survivors adapted to how things are now, if there's anything there at all- it'll be interesting to see what turns up when they get there even if they don't find anything alive down there.

But if you really want to know what I think would be really cool to find there, you should read the H.P. Lovecraft story "At the Mountains of Madness". It's fiction to be sure, but I think that would be the most exciting sort of possibility under this frozen, slumbering continent.

Sincerely,
South Pole Geophysicist

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Do you think sometime in the future it will be possible to actually live in the Antarctic year-round in private homes? I realize energy for warmth and other needs are a real problem right now but with more and more technology coming along daily, perhaps in the future we can really have a cheap energy source that is non-polluting.

Shtara

Hello Shtara,

Not one single private individual lives on this continent besides the national and international bases that already exist. Why not? You can't drive to the grocery store whenever you want. If your power goes out, you can't call an electrician. You need some sort of community to cover your living needs. Power generation is only part of what you need to think about when you're going to live here. What about your food? Water? Waste disposal? These things just don't happen by themselves. You can't just live off the land. Here at the South Pole, whatever you bring with you is what you have, other than that, there's nothing but ice: 9,000 feet of it until you hit bedrock. It's not a matter of building shelter out of native materials (ice), growing food (more ice), and finding a nice native boy washed ashore to serve you (carved out of sea ice) a la Robinson Crusoe.

Without imported food, fuel, and shelter, you will die here.

South Pole Geophysicist

Though the South Pole Geophysicist's role as an entertainer may presently be hobbled by sobriety and a rigorous dedication to objectivity, Big Dead Place believes that a ramshackle podium is the cornerstone of change.

Send questions for the South Pole Geophysicist to submissions@bigdeadplace.com.