Article

2012-02-04 -Short Attention Span Theater-

Russian scientists seeking Lake Vostok lost in frozen 'Land of the Lost'?

A group of Russian scientists plumbing the frozen Antarctic in search of a lake buried in ice for tens of millions of years have failed to respond to increasingly anxious U.S. colleagues -- and as the days creep by, the fate of the team remains unknown.
We've all seen this movie.
"No word from the ice for 5 days," Dr. John Priscu -- professor of ecology at Montana State University and head of a similar Antarctic exploration program -- told FoxNews
The team from Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) have been drilling for weeks in an effort to reach isolated Lake Vostok, a vast, dark body of water hidden 13,000 ft. below the ice sheet's surface. The lake hasn't been exposed to air in more than 20 million years.
Today's Rantburg Survey:
You're a Russian scientist about to investigate a lake that's been buried under ice for 20 million years. The creature you least want to encounter is:
a. A grotesque Antarctic monster that sucks your brains out through a straw.
b. Donna Shalala.
c. Paul Krugman.
d. Janet Napolitano.
e. Other (please explain.)

Posted by Matt 2012-02-04 10:15|| || Front Page|| [11135 views ] Top

#1 "No word from the ice for 5 days"

There's your problem, silly - ice can't talk (though sometimes it groans).

Posted by Barbara 2012-02-04 12:04|| 2012-02-04 12:04|| Front Page Top

#2 Cue Kurt Russell circa 1982.

Posted by Shimble Guelph5793 2012-02-04 12:25|| 2012-02-04 12:25|| Front Page Top

#3 Cthulhu ftagn!

Posted by Cincinnatus Chili 2012-02-04 12:57|| 2012-02-04 12:57|| Front Page Top

#4 I think what would be more likely is a geyser of water like when an oil field is sometimes first drilled into. This would be for a couple of reasons:

1. The great weight of the ice pushing down on that lake, it would act like a leak in a water balloon. It could be under such high pressure that the entire lake would squirt out before they could get it stopped.

2. Atmospheric pressure was likely higher when that water was last exposed to the atmosphere. That water might have a greater "charge" of various gases than the atmosphere has now and once that water starts up the borehole, the gas begins to separate from the water. Bubbles now filling the borehole and rising act is a part of a pump, pulling more stuff up behind them.

Posted by crosspatch 2012-02-04 13:00|| 2012-02-04 13:00|| Front Page Top

#5 crosspatch; ice is less dense than water, so if the ice is 'floating' on the water of the lake, a 'blowout' should not occur. However, if the water is under pressure beyond that of the weight of the ice (heated from below, for instance, or filled from inflow from an elevation higher than the ice surface) then the drillers will need a fluid density in the borehole that is greater than that of the lake water. To prevent freezing they have used kerosene as the base fluid (we use diesel in many oil wells, though not for anti freezing purposes), which is less than water density, but they will have added suspended clay or other solids to try to ensure a fluid density adequate to both hold the bore hole open and prevent the lake from blowing out. As I understand it, their biggest official concern is to prevent their drilling fluid from contaminating the lake..... but I watched X-Files, etc.

Posted by Glenmore 2012-02-04 13:28|| 2012-02-04 13:28|| Front Page Top

#6 That's a trick survey. b,c, and d are the same as a.

Posted by Deacon Blues 2012-02-04 14:33|| 2012-02-04 14:33|| Front Page Top

#7 Re #3: Shoggoths got 'em...

Posted by borgboy 2012-02-04 14:42|| 2012-02-04 14:42|| Front Page Top

#8 Geothermal heating of the water is what keeps it water. So its pressurized. And guess what? Its thoerized there is a much higher oxygen content trapped in there due to heat and pressure. Adiabatic expansion will cause a blowout, and the drop in pressure will cause the oxygen to outgas. All the makings for an explosion.

The creature I would least want to encounter is an ancient fatal virus for which we have no resistance at all. Maybe this is how the zombie plague starts...

Posted by OldSpook 2012-02-04 15:02|| 2012-02-04 15:02|| Front Page Top

#9 Correction: Geothermal heating of the water is what keeps it ~~water~~ liquid.

... theorized ... et alia, et cetera.

Im not having a good day, I'll be over here --->

With a Bushmills on the rocks.

Posted by OldSpook 2012-02-04 15:05|| 2012-02-04 15:05|| Front Page Top

#10 Natural gas dissolved in oil or water is what generates the high borehole pressures in 'normal' oilfield wells, and we can routinely double the density of drilling fluid to keep the well under control (though we get it wrong sometimes). I can't imagine the lake has that much pressure, because I think the ice would fracture and release pressure before it got to that point. I am concerned with the drill crew though, it is a most challenging drilling environment, and then there's the ancient virus and bacteria that could be released and wipe out the planet....

Posted by Glenmore 2012-02-04 15:16|| 2012-02-04 15:16|| Front Page Top

#11

"You've got to be FARKING kidding me."

Posted by Mizzou Mafia 2012-02-04 15:22|| 2012-02-04 15:22|| Front Page Top

#12 If you see a helicopter chasing a dog...shoot the dog.

Posted by Jonathan 2012-02-04 16:23|| 2012-02-04 16:23|| Front Page Top

#13 Drilling has stopped due to extreme cold issues with equipment.

Posted by Dale 2012-02-04 18:20|| 2012-02-04 18:20|| Front Page Top

#14 d. Janet Napolitano.

Posted by newc 2012-02-04 18:54|| 2012-02-04 18:54|| Front Page Top

#15 Old Ones, why settle for a lesser EVIL!

Posted by Choluse Graling8806 2012-02-04 19:03|| 2012-02-04 19:03|| Front Page Top

#16 Good Video but I still find Janet Napolitano and Rosie Barr the scariest.

Posted by Dale 2012-02-04 21:03|| 2012-02-04 21:03|| Front Page Top

#17 Leon Panetta: Large snot-locker, minuscule brain and a proven perfidious, traitorous consciousness. Leon sports a baggie-assed trouser attitude by having been kicked-upstairs so many times. His puss, again, looks like 40 miles of hard road. May Heaven Help us. Amen.

Posted by Chesh Squank6666 2012-02-04 22:20|| 2012-02-04 22:20|| Front Page Top

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