Life Discovered One-Half Mile Beneath Ice Sheet in Subglacial Lake

Life thrives even in some of the most inhospitable environments on our planet. Scientists have discovered that one-half mile before the surface of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is a lake that hasn't seen sunlight for millions of years--and it has a thriving ecosystem.

"We were able to prove unequivocally to the world that Antarctica is not a dead continent," said John Priscu, chief scientist of the project that sampled the lake, in a news release.

In January 2013, the team drilled through half a mile of ice in order to reach Subglacial Lake Whillans. After taking samples of the lake, the researchers found an entire ecosystem of microbes that could function without sunlight at subzero temperatures. After using DNA sequencing, the scientists found that the community was mostly made up of archaea.

Many of the subglacial archaea use the energy in the chemical bonds of ammonium in order to fix carbon dioxide and drive other metabolic processes. Another group of microorganisms then uses the energy and carbon in methane to survive. It's likely that the source of the ammonium and methane is from the breakdown of organic matter that was deposited in the area hundreds of thousands of years ago when Antarctica was warmer.

Currently, the newly discovered microorganisms are still being analyzed by scientists-and it looks like there are a lot of them. In fact, the water column probably has about 4,000 species in all, making it incredibly diverse.

Yet these findings don't just have implications for Earth. They also show that life can thrive in even cold, dark environments. This could give researchers and astronomers more places to look as they hunt for life on other planets.

"I hope this exciting discovery will touch the lives (both young and old) of people throughout the world and inspire the next generation of polar scientists," said Priscu.

The findings are published in the journal Nature.