Physics professor talks to KSTP-TV about his Antarctic research
A team of researchers that drilled through more than half a mile of ice in Antarctica made international news in recent weeks with their surprising discovery: a population of fish living deep beneath the ice sheet.
A KSTP-TV story notes that while many people might wonder what it’s like to drill a hole a few thousand feet deep, St. Olaf College Professor Emeritus of Physics Bob Jacobel doesn’t need to imagine.
Jacobel is a member of the Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling (WISSARD) team that successfully drilled through 800 meters of ice to reach a subglacial lake in what the National Science Foundation called “a first-of-its-kind feat of science and engineering.”
“The hole is about six inches — it’s like an ice fishing hole,” Jacobel tells the ABC news affiliate. “But instead of being drilled with an auger, it’s drilled with hot water.”
After all that drilling, that’s when researchers discovered it:
“Fish,” Jacobell tells the affiliate with a laugh.
“It’s a serendipitous discovery, and we don’t really understand what the impact of that is yet,” Jacobel says.
As part of the WISSARD team, Jacobel was responsible for determining the geophysical characterization of the subglacial lake. The data he gathered, which shows the dimensions and hydrology of the lake, played a crucial role in helping the team determine where to drill.
Jacobel was among the authors of a paper published in the August issue of Nature that confirms that the lake 800 meters below the ice in Antarctica supports “viable microbial ecosystems.”