These Subglacial Lakes Are Believed To Be The Key Hole To Study Alien Life

Researchers of Alberta University are claiming that their unexpected discovery will help to solve the mysteries of deep space.

A team of researchers from the University of Alberta has found two cold subglacial lakes in the depth of 750 meters beneath an ice field of Canadian Arctic region. They claiming that these lakes have similar characteristics of two moons of Jupiter that are Europa and Enceladus. 

According to their published paper, the lakes have been found by the team when they were mapping the geological parts of the icy region using topography. They found a cold surface under a large ice filed at Devon Island, Nunavut.They found that the cold surface is in a liquid state with nearly the temperature of - 10-degree Celsius. The researchers blaming the salt content of the water as the primary reason for non-solidification of the lake that lies still under the cold ice cap.

According to them the salt content of the lake must be in the range of 4-5 percent higher while comparing them to the normal sea water this special hypersaline character had helped the lake to stay away from freezing even though the lake was not exposed to any rays of sunlight for past 12,000 years.

The scientists are now expecting to get some sample water from those lakes to find the biological activity under the large ice cap. If the team succeeded in their quest than their findings will play a major role in unveiling the biological truths of icy moons of Jupiter Europa and Enceladus that are believed to be made up of water that covered with ice over the whole of its area.

These lakes are the first two subglacial lakes to be found in the Canadian Arctic region. As a next forward step, the team decided to drill the ice-covered shell of the lakes with large equipment but without contaminating the environment. Hence the team hoped to pump out some sample water from the lake under a sterile environment to avoid contaminating the lake's atmosphere.

However, the team needed to be prepared for some obstacles like extreme cold, depth and salt content of the water as these things are believed to be more sensitive obstacles for the sampling mission by the team.