- Lake Untersee
infobox_lake
lake_name = Lake Untersee
location =Schirmacher Oasis ,Dronning Maud Land
basin_countries= (Antarctica)
type = glacial
inflow =
outflow =
area = 11.4 km²
volume =
depth =
max-depth = 169 m
elevation = 563 m
residence_time =
shore =
coords = coord|71|20|S|13|27|E|type:waterbody_region:AQ|display=inline,title
cities =
islands =
reference = Wand et al.Lake Untersee, also known as Lake Unter-See, is the largest surface freshwater lake in the interior of
East Antarctica [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v315/n6015/abs/315131a0.html Hermichen et al. 1985 "Lake Untersee, a first isotope study of the largest freshwater lake in the interior of East Antarctica"] ] . It is approximately 6.5 km long and 2.5 km wide and permanently covered with ice with an average thickness of 3.0 m in summer. Wand et al., "Evidence for physical and chemical stratification in Lake Untersee (central Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica" Antarctic Science, Vol. 9 (1), p. 43-45, 1997] The lake is dammed by the Anuchin Glacier feeding the lake and has no outlet. Water is only lost throughevaporation andablation of the ice cover.The water chemistry is peculiar with high
pH ranging between 9.8 and 12.1,supersaturation with dissolved oxygen (150 %), and a very lowprimary production . The water temperature is permanently below 1 °C. ["Relationship between ice cover, hydrology and sedimentation of Lake Untersee (East Antarctica) - a key to the Holocene climate reconstruction" Eos Trans. AGU, 81 (48), Fall Meet. Suppl., 2000] The lake's sediments may produce more methane than any other natural body of water on our planet. [http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/07feb_cloroxlake.htm Hoover et al. Science@NASA "Extremophile Hunt Begins"] ]It was first discovered by the German Antarctic Expedition 1938-39.
In 2008 an expedition under Richard Hoover of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center will be using the lake as a testbed in its hunt for extra-terrestrial life. The conditions of the lake closely mimic what they think they will find on other moons and planets that contain water ice and methane. If they find "
extremophile " life in Untersee, they may find it elsewhere in space.References
External links
*gnis|15783|type=antarid|Lake Unter-See
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