Michael Tobis wrote:
> No, actually liquid water forms more easily at higher pressure and
> there is an Antarctic subglacial hydrological system which originates
> geothermally. Lake Vostok is the famous instance, but it has emerged
> there are flows among these reservoirs as well deep in the Antarctic
> interior.
I think that misses the point, which is that there is no obvious way for
surface water to percolate down through 1km of ice to reach the ice bed.
For that matter, where there is already water down there, it presumably
wouldn't matter if more joined it, from the POV of lubrication.
I do wonder how much the discovery of water sloshing around has
influenced beliefs about the (possibly) isolated Vostok ecosystem. If
water can move more-or-less freely under large areas of the ice sheet,
then it seems entirely plausible to me (but I'm guessing really) that it
is connected to the open ocean. Anyway, that's another matter entirely,
but not one that I've seen much discussion of. Maybe there are good
reasons why an ocean connection is implausible.
James
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