Mass and Energy Fluxes Through Lake Vostok: Observations and Models

Columbia University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

0088047 Bell This award supports a two year project to address fundamental questions about the mass and energy flux through Lake Vostok, a subglacial lake in East Antarctica, sealed beneath almost 4 kilometers of ice. The project will involve developing lake circulation models, complemented by the analysis of new ice penetrating radar data over the lake and surrounding regions. This project will help to accurately define the regions of melting and freezing within the lake and help to provide an improved estimate of the form of the lake. The combined data analysis and modeling effort will provide a critical framework for developing international plans to sample the waters of Lake Vostok for biota and to recover sediments from Lake Vostok for paleoclimate studies.