balabala 叭啦叭啦 ＊　伊小娃的小圈圈

Edinburgh University researcher Neil Ross is part of a four-man team camped on an Antarctic ice sheet.

The group, which also includes members of the British Antarctic Survey, are to explore an ancient subglacial lake about the size of Loch Katrine.

Lake Ellsworth, in West Antarctica, is buried under 3.2kms of ice. 

The scientists believe the 10km-long lake could give scientists vital insights into climate change, future rises in sea-levels and the origins of life on earth.

It is one of more than 150 lakes locked beneath Antarctica's vast ice sheets that have been discovered using radar and satellite technologies. 

Professor Martin Siegert, principal investigator on the International Polar Year project that is investigating the lake and head of Edinburgh University's School of GeoSciences, said the lake could show signs of ancient life.

He said: "We are particularly interested in Lake Ellsworth because it is likely to have been isolated from the surface for hundreds of thousands of years.

"Radar measurements made previously from aircraft surveys suggest that the lake is connected to others that could drain ice from the West Antarctic Ice sheet to the ocean and contribute to sea level rise.

由這些研究者經由雷達探測等等的科技方式探測，南極冰層下有超過１５０個湖泊，而進而對Ellsworth 湖特別感興趣，她們發現這湖泊似乎聯接著其他湖泊以匯聚冰片從南極西邊的冰層流入海洋，成為了海水面上升的因素。

而研究人員也相信這湖泊斢露著古代生命的跡象。

Extraterrestrial environment

He said: "For example, because water acts as a lubricant to the ice above, they may influence how the ice sheet flows.

"Their potential for unusual life forms could shed new light on evolution of life in harsh conditions; lake-floor sediments could yield vital clues to past climate."

He added the lakes could also help to give insight into the extraterrestrial environment of Europa - one of Jupiter's moons.

Dr Andy Smith, of the British Antarctic Survey, who is leading the expedition, said: "This is the first phase of what we think is an incredibly exciting project.

"We know the lake is 3.2km beneath the ice; long and thin and around 18 kilometres squared.

"But as we don't know how deep it is that will be the focus of our experiments this time.

"If the survey work goes well, the next phase will be to build a probe, drill down into the lake and explore and sample the lake water." 

這些湖泊的發現也可能為目前生命演化的研究困境展開了新希望，因湖泊的底層淤積可能蘊藏著古代氣候的生命線索。

更補充說明，這些湖泊也可能幫助我們可以更深遠去了解到Europa（木星之其中衛星）的變化等等。

這些預測都讓研究人員感到無比的興奮，他們目前探測到這湖泊的大小但還不知道它的深度。
而他們會繼續朝著這個目標前進，解開南極冰層下湖泊的秘密。

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

Eva最近有收看東森某台的一個晚間七點節目＂關鍵時刻＂，這個節目大概講的就是有關世界各地的古怪及神秘之謎。他們討論的已經包含過非常多為人熟知的項目：百慕達三角洲的秘密，香巴拉地底國存在之謎，埃及人面獅身等等等，當然這些事情都還沒有一個真正的解釋或者真理，不過這個節目中的來賓所提出的言論也都比較具科學根據，並充滿著對這些神秘世界的豐富經驗，聽他們講講那些大概我們一輩子也不可能會遇見的歷程，也是一件蠻不錯的事。