Exploration of lake hidden beneath Antarctica’s ice sheet begins 17 January 2008 A Northumbria University academic is part of a four-man science team led by the British Antarctic Survey’s (BAS) which has begun exploring an ancient lake hidden deep beneath Antarctica’s ice sheet. The lake - the size of Lake Windermere - could yield vital clues to life on Earth, climate change and future sea-level rise. Read more Lake Ellsworth, in West Antarctica, is buried under 3.2kms of ice. The lake is one of 145 sub-glacial lakes that have recently been pinpointed on the continent by airborne radar surveys. Scientists now know that heat emanating from Earth's core gently melts the base of the Antarctic ice sheet and this produces vast caverns - many of them dozens of miles in length - that have filled with water. Latitude, 79.00 S; Longitude, 90.50 W.
