Signs of life discovered in mud from the bottom of a lake under the Antarctic ice

Sept. 12 (Xinhua-Exclusive) -- Scientists have found signs of life in mud from the bottom of a lake locked under ice in Antarctica, according to a report on the Live Science website based in the United States. Studying microorganisms in extreme and closed environments like this can help scientists understand how life survives in the most brutal places on Earth and potentially other planets.

Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey and other organizations broke through the ice sheet and dug up some clean sediment samples from the bottom of Lake Hodgson, which is 93 meters deep and located on the Antarctic Peninsula. Currently, the surface of Lake Hodgson is covered with ice that is 3-4 meters thick, but thousands of years ago it was buried under 500 meters of ice. The sediments studied by the scientists accumulated when Lake Hodgson was sealed under the thick ice.