Subglacial Lake Sampled monitor the progress of hot-water
drilling through a 300-meter thick glacier in Iceland.
Scientists from Manoa’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and
Technology and Icelandic research institutes, successfully
drilled into and sampled a lake deep beneath a glacier in
Iceland. The lake is buried under 300 meters (984 feet) of ice
and was 100 meters (328 feet) deep at the sampling location. A
lake sample was retrieved using a water and gas tight sampler
designed and built by SOEST. The UH team included Eric Gaidos,
Brian Glazer and Mary Miller. The researchers will study the
lake’s temperature profile and the retrieved water sample to
determine whether microbial life is present and thriving in its
perennially dark, near-freezing waters. The subglacial lakes are
the focus of studies of life in extreme environments, and may
resemble potential habitats on Mars. Read Telescope Dedicated on
Haleakala | Blessing the new PS1 telescope on the summit of
Haleakala. Photo by Rob Ratkowski, HAA Maui