Lake Vostok Reached • Hacker News Board

Re: Lake Vostok Reached

#31

Post by dromidas » Thu, Feb 09, 2012, 12:14 AM UTC

ronnoles wrote: post #18

ebbv wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no evidence that there is any more. They only need the lubricant at the point of contact with the drill bit.

If this was anything like a typical process, drilling fluid would be pumped under pressure down the drill pipe. Not a few drops - rather hundreds (or thousands) of liters. Obviously, this is not hard-rock drilling so I'd assume the volume of drilling fluid would be reduced. It would still have to be a substantial amount, definitely more that 1.5 cubic meters.

So now that the drilling hole is flushed of antifreeze and its filled with prehistoric lake water... what's to stop it from freezing and closing off the hole again?

Re: Lake Vostok Reached

#32

Post by D_Alex » Thu, Feb 09, 2012, 2:09 AM UTC

ronnoles wrote: post #18

ebbv wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no evidence that there is any more. They only need the lubricant at the point of contact with the drill bit.

If this was anything like a typical process, drilling fluid would be pumped under pressure down the drill pipe. Not a few drops - rather hundreds (or thousands) of liters. Obviously, this is not hard-rock drilling so I'd assume the volume of drilling fluid would be reduced. It would still have to be a substantial amount, definitely more that 1.5 cubic meters.

It is not much like a typical drilling process. The article includes a pretty decent infographic abt 2/3 way down, which shows the drilling principle on the last slide. Worth a look.

Re: Lake Vostok Reached

#33

Post by estevez » Thu, Feb 09, 2012, 3:18 AM UTC

notatoad wrote: post #19

sp332 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It think it's funny that the liquid water at the bottom is treated as precious, but no one cares about the huge amount solid "water" above it.

liquid water could harbour life. the icepack probably doesn't have too much living in it.

We've found microbes almost everywhere, and they make up the vast, vast majority of life on this planet.

In Lake Vostok's case, the first reports were in 1999,[1] and yeast and fungi have been isolatef from ice cores collected at depths more than 3500 m below the surface.[2] Exciting stuff, no?

*: Posting from school, so sorry if these aren't free.

[1]: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/286/5447/2144.short

[2]: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/279/1728/474....

Re: Lake Vostok Reached

#34

Post by yread » Thu, Feb 09, 2012, 7:25 AM UTC

notatoad wrote: post #17

yread wrote: post #5

Russian Minister of Natural Resources Yury Trutnev and head of Russia’s Meteorological service Rosgidromet, Alexander Frolov, arrived at Russia’s Vostok station. What is Minister of Natural resources doing there? Could it have something to do with the scramble for natural resources under Artic?

he's a politician, and his government has done something that's getting positive press. he's just jumping in front of a camera. also: Antarctic, not Arctic.

Eh Lake Vostok is in Antarctic but oil is under Arctic