Scientists have found there's life in the coldest and darkest parts of the Antarctic ice sheet located one half mile below the surface.

This finding came to light after a massive U.S. expedition at Lake Whillans, a subglacial lake the deeper portions of which haven't been touched by sunlight for millions of years.

Like Us on Facebook

Scientists have published a paper confirming the waters and sediments of a lake 800 meters beneath the surface of the West Antarctic ice sheet support "viable microbial ecosystems." There are an estimated 400 subglacial lakes and numerous rivers and streams beneath the Antarctic ice sheet.

Scientists believe these ecosystems could be widespread and might influence the biological and chemical composition of the Southern Ocean, the sea that surrounding Antarctica.

The project that led to this discovery was the "Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling (WISSARD)."

WISSARD has provided a glimpse of the nature of microbial life that could exist under more than 5 million square miles of ice sheet.

Water from subglacial Lake Whillans show the lake contains a diverse microbial community. Surprisingly, many microbes can mine rocks for energy; use carbon dioxide as their source of carbon and convert ammonium and methane into the energy required for growth.

Researchers said many of the subglacial archaea used energy from the chemical bonds of ammonium to fix carbon dioxide. There are other microorganism groups that use energy and carbon in methane to survive.

WISSARD began in 2009 with a US$10 million grant coming from the National Science Foundation. It's the first large scale multidisciplinary effort that examined the biology of the Antarctic subglacial environment.

Researchers said Antarctic ice covers an area one and half the times the size of the United States and contains 70 percent of Earth's freshwater.

Researchers were able to prove unequivocally to the world that Antarctic is not a dead continent, said John Priscu, one of the researchers. There's not only life but active ecosystems underneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Priscu believes the ammonium and methane came from the breakdown of organic material that was deposited in the area when Antarctica was warmer hundreds of years ago.

If Antarctica continues to warm, the vast amount of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, will be liberated into the atmosphere and enhance climate change.

Researchers are looking at water column that probably has 4,000 incredibly diverse species. They're planning to drill again when the Austral summer came to the Antarctic.