Scientists start ‘terrifying’ search for life trapped under Antarctic ice

They plan to probe an ancient lake that has been sealed off from the outside world for up to 500,000 years beneath 1.8 miles of Antarctic ice.

Lake Ellsworth may contain microbes capable of living under conditions of intense pressure, sub-zero temperatures and continuous darkness, and water and sediment samples could also reveal vital secrets about the Earth’s past climate.

The expedition may also pave the way for a robot mission to Jupiter’s moon Europea, where scientists have discovered a subsurface ocean under a layer of thick ice.

In October, after 16 years of planning, the team of scientists, engineers and support staff will set off on the 16,000-mile journey to the heart of Antarctica.

Programme manager Chris Hill, from the British Antarctic Survey, said: “This is an incredibly exciting and terrifying time for us.”

Principal investigator Dr Martin Siegert, from the University of Bristol, said: “It’s a frontier of science. No-one has done the work that we plan to do.

“Finding life in a lake that could have been isolated for up to half a million years is an exciting prospect, and the lake bed sediments have the potential to paint a picture of the history of the west Antarctic ice sheet in a way that we haven’t seen before.”

The lake remains liquid deep below the Antarctic surface because the pressure exerted by thousands of meters of ice has altered the freezing point of the water trapped beneath it.

The expedition, estimated to cost around £8m, will use state-of-the-art equipment to ensure there is no contamination of the lake or samples.

A hot water drill working at 2,000 pounds per square inch will bore a hole down to the lake, melting the ice as it goes. Scientists will pass a hi-tech titanium probe through the borehole to capture water and sediment samples at different depths.

Once the drilling operation is complete the team will have just 24 hours to collect samples before the borehole freezes up and re-seals the lake.

The first results are expected by Christmas.