Reviewing the origin of subglacial Lake Vostok and its sensitivity to ice sheet changes

• Published in: Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment
• Main Author: Siegert, Martin J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 2005
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous); Geography, Planning and Development; Antarctic; Lake Vostok; Astrolabe; Astrolabe Subglacial Basin; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1191/0309133305pp441ra; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1191/0309133305pp441ra

The history of Lake Vostok, the huge East Antarctic subglacial lake, is critical to the unique biota expected in this extreme environment. One theory is that the lake existed prior to the mid-Miocene glaciation of the continent at around 15 million years ago, survived the subsequent period of ice gr...