Excavating Subglacial Lakes
Welcome to UANT's Subglacial Lake development project! Some of the most fantastic research breakthroughs conducted by UANT divisions in recent years involves drilling under the ice into the pristine, untouched subglacial lakes. This is the purest water in the world, hidden for over 30,000 years.
On a recent drill, a team led by UANT Vostok personnel selected the best site (see presentation), and proceeded to diagram the proper geography of the area (see below) before drilling.
This site turned up a cache of findings, such as ancient minerals and ice cores to be analyzed. More importantly, because the water is so pure, it can be thawed and bottled as part of UANT's campaign to end world thirst. The world's freshwater needs are increasingly daily, especially in the places that need it most like Africa and the Middle East. This situation demands a response from Western government, and that is why, through UANT's Subglacial Lakes Excavation Project, Antarctic water will be bottled and sold below market price from our rich deep-ice lakes. This humanitarian effort is being spearheaded by Gmono Tutu, a recent graduate exchange student from Zimbabwe.
"In my part of the world, people are hungry and thirsty, while here, people are fed and satiated with daily freshwater. I don't take a long time to think, 'I can help in my homeland and my people, by taking the water from Antarctica.'" -Gmono Tutu (c/o '10)
With
Africa approaching a billion inhabitants, the time for Antarctica's
role as major water-producer can not come soon enough. In the Middle
East, people who own animals must take care about their water needs
as well. When water resources are scarce, animals suffer drastically
as people conserve for themselves. UANT is committed to providing
all life-forms with the water they need to stay healthy.
It
was last year's drilling around (but not into) subglacial "Lake Vostok," located right under the Vostok campus, that caught the most
headlines. This is the largest lake on Antarctica, the size of Lake
Ontario, USA, has not been touched for over 500,000 years. It
is super-oxygenated and has an environment unlike any other on Earth.
Completely dark, it resembles more Jupiter's moon Europa than other
lakes on Earth. If life is found in Lake Vostok, it would help us
understand
how something can survive the extreme dark ocean on Europa as well. Additionally,
when Lake Vostok is
drilled into, it can potentially provide clean water for millions
of people.
This research division of the University is looking into doing just that- and providing the millions of kiloliters needed for a growing planet. Please email the commission for inquiries.
