One of the goals of the DeepIce Science and Technology Center (one of 16 finalists but not one of the 5 selected by NSF) would have been to locate a subglacial lake close to the South Pole and to search for life in lake water and sediment, as well as in ice above the lake. Radar data obtained in December 1998 show evidence for a lake approximately 10 km from the South Pole. We would like to search for microbes in deep ice above the lake, using filtration, cultivation, microscopy and other techniques, and molecular analysis with PCR amplification. To search for living microbes, we would scan thick sections microscopically for micrometer-size motile organisms living in acid-rich liquid veins in polycrystalline ice. Ultimately we would use sterile drilling to recover lake water and sediment in which to search for life.
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