The Bottom Topography and Subglacial Lake Vostok Water Body, East Antarctica

摘要

In the early 1990s, as a result of the analysis of satellite altimetry data, a flat subhor;izontal ice plain was found to the north of the Russian Vbstok Station and it was suggested that this plain is associated with the water surface with the same area [1]. In summer of 1994, at a session of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, held in Rome A.P. Kapitsa made a report concerning the location of a large subglacial freshwater lake in this area. It was proposed to name it Lake Vostok. After this event, in 1996, this fact was thoroughly analyzed and compared with previously obtained seismic and radar data. This analysis supported the idea that this natural phenomenon existed. At the same time, beginning with the field season of 1995-1996, active and systematic study of this object was started by the Polar Marine Geosurvey Expedition within the framework of the annual Russian Antarctic research. The studies were carried out by remote geophysical methods, such as radio-echo sounding (RES) and reflection seismic sounding. The latter were carried out mainly over the lake surface [2-4]. Despite the fact that by now nearly 200 similar objects have been found [5], Lake Vostok is the biggest and the most studied lake in Antarctica.