. 24/7 Space News .
EXO WORLDS
Newly discovered salty subglacial lakes could help search for life in solar system
by Staff Writers
Austin TX (SPX) Apr 13, 2018

illustration only

Researchers from the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG) have helped discover the first subglacial lakes ever found in the Canadian High Arctic.

The two new lakes are a potential habitat for microbial life and may assist scientists in the search for life beyond Earth. The findings, published in the April 13 edition of Science Advances, were made possible by airborne radar data acquired by UTIG and NASA and represent a new collaboration between Canada and the United States.

While there are more than 400 known subglacial lakes in the world, concentrated primarily in Antarctica with a few in Greenland, these are the first found in the Canadian Arctic. And unlike all the others - which are believed to contain freshwater - these two appear to consist of extremely salty water. All subglacial lakes are good analogues for life beyond Earth, but the hypersaline nature of the Devon lakes makes them particularly tantalizing analogues for ice-covered moons in our solar system, researchers said.

In 2011, researchers from UTIG showed that Jupiter's icy moon Europa, likely contains hypersaline lakes of liquid water within an ice shell that floats atop of a global ocean. The new lakes observed in Canada are very similar to these potential lakes locked inside Europa's icy shell.

An analysis of radar data, show that the lakes discovered in Canada are located beneath 550 to 750 meters of ice underneath the Devon Ice Cap, one of the largest ice caps in the Canadian Arctic. They are thought to be the first isolated hypersaline subglacial lakes in the world, having no contact with an outside environment for thousands of years.

"If there is microbial life in these lakes, it has likely been under the ice for at least 120,000 years, so it likely evolved in isolation," Rutishauser said. "If we can collect a sample of the water, we may determine whether microbial life exists, how it evolved, and how it continues to live in this cold environment with no connection to the atmosphere."

By evaluating the airborne survey data and, eventually, samples from the lake, scientists can better prepare for NASA's forthcoming Europa Clipper mission, which plans to deploy similar remote sensing techniques to characterize Europa's ice shell, said co-author Donald Blankenship, a UTIG senior research scientist. Blankenship is leading the development of the ice penetrating radar sounder for the Clipper mission, an instrument very similar to the one used to discover the Canadian lakes.

Researchers with Montana State University, Stanford University, and the Cambridge University Scott Polar Research Institute also worked on the project. In addition to Blankenship, UTIG researchers Jamin Greenbaum, Cyril Grima and Duncan Young worked on the study. UTIG is a research unit of the UT Jackson School of Geosciences.

The same research team is currently planning a return to the Canadian Arctic in spring 2018 for additional data acquisition over the lake area and surrounding ice caps with support from Canada's W. Garfield Weston Foundation.

"It's amazing how the trilateral collaboration between Canadian, U.S. and UK universities to understand ice cap response to climate change evolved into a paradigm shift in our perspective on potential terrestrial analogs for extraterrestrial habitats," Blankenship said.

Lead author Anja Rutishauser is a Ph.D. student at the University of Alberta who will join The University of Texas at Austin as a postdoctoral fellow when she finishes her degree.


Related Links
University of Texas at Austin
Lands Beyond Beyond - extra solar planets - news and science
Life Beyond Earth


Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly


paypal only
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal


EXO WORLDS
First Interdisciplinary Conference on Habitability in early solar system
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Apr 09, 2018
Media are invited to tune into a livecast from astrobiology experts at the first Goddard international interdisciplinary conference on habitability in the early solar system. The "Environments of Terrestrial Planets Under the Young Sun: Seeds of Biomolecules" will be held at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, from April 9 through13, 2018. The meeting will be hosted by the Sellers Exoplanet Environments Collaboration, a multi-disciplinary effort to study the broad dive ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

EXO WORLDS
'Ideas' conference to grapple with dark side of tech

Virgin Galactic completes first rocket-powered Unity space craft launch

Cargo-packed Dragon arrives at space station

SpaceX Dragon arrives at ISS with material samples and new testing facility

EXO WORLDS
Rocket Lab 'Its Business Time' launch window to open 20 April 2018 NZT

Student Launch Teams Rendezvous in Huntsville for NASA Competition

New research payloads heading to ISS on SpaceX Resupply Mission

SpaceX launches cargo to space station using recycled rocket, spaceship

EXO WORLDS
NASA's Idea to Send Swarm of Robots to Mars

Opportunity Completes In-Situ Work on 'Aguas Calientes'

"Bungee Jumping": Russian Scientists Suggest Using Ropes to Ship Cargo From Mars

NASA Ready to Study Heart of Mars

EXO WORLDS
China's 'space dream': A Long March to the moon

China says Earth-bound space lab to offer 'splendid' show

Tiangong-1 expected to burn up on reentering atmosphere

Earth-bound Chinese spacelab plunging to fiery end

EXO WORLDS
Storm hunter launched to International Space Station

SpaceX says Iridium satellite payload deployed

Spacecom selects SSL to build AMOS-8 comsat with advanced capabilities

Relativity Space raises 35M in Series B funding

EXO WORLDS
Thin engineered material perfectly redirects and reflects sound

Programming: a highly sought talent in Silicon Valley

A UC3M study analyzes the keys to fragmentation of metallic materials

New 4-D printer could reshape the world we live in

EXO WORLDS
First Interdisciplinary Conference on Habitability in early solar system

Planet hunter TESS will also help astronomers study stars

UA-led NASA survey seen as steppingstone for astronomy

It's givin' me excitations: U-M study uncovers first steps of photosynthesis

EXO WORLDS
SSL to provide of critical capabilities for Europa Flyby Mission

Jupiter's turmoil more than skin deep: researchers

New Horizons Chooses Nickname for 'Ultimate' Flyby Target

Jupiter's Great Red Spot getting taller as it shrinks









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.