Lake Vostok
Lake Vostok is a lake located Southeast of the South Pole, or
Antarctica. This lake has been buried under countless winter’s worth of snow,
about 14 Million years’ worth of it. It is being dug out by a team of Russian
Scientists, known as the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. The drilling
started in 1990 although it was supposedly discovered by Andrey Kapitsa in the
1950-1960's, British Scientists also found unusual readings during airborne
radar surveys of the area. Then in 1991 Jeff Ridley used the ERS-1 Satellite to
use high-frequency radars to scan the middle of the Antarctic ice cap, the data
from this scanning confirmed that Lake Vostok lay buried in the area.
The borehole used to dig into the lake is very environmentally
dangerous and could pollute the water if careful extraction is not done. The
reason the excavation site is so dangerous, is that the hole was layered in
Kerosene and Freon, which are used to prevent the hole from being covered up or
frozen during the merciless winter. Kerosene (which is used as heating oil in
the United Kingdom and other countries) is just like petroleum in that it
contaminates things it touches. Freon however is a shorter name of an organic
compound known as chlorofluorocarbon, which is made of carbon, chlorine, and
fluorine. Both are terrible for the environment, and could easily kill off
things living in the lake, which have been living there for millions of years.
This could prevent us from getting any results from the things that are alive.
Interestingly enough, the location of the lake resembles the moons Europa and Enceladus,
and with this knowledge we might be able to colonize that place one day. Also
we could see how things adapt to such high-oxygen levels, and to do that you
need many protective enzymes. The Russians however have plans to take the
sample and not contaminate the lake at the same time, as explained by Valery
Lukin, the water pressure from the lake when it is breached will push the
working body and the drill fluids up to the borehole, and at that temperature
the water will instantly freeze._____________________________________________
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Vostok
http://www.exohuman.com/wordpress/2011/02/whats-under-lake-vostok/ 
