Antarctica’s Frozen Lake Enigma Holds an Ancient Ecosystem Beneath the Ice

Scientists recently uncovered a hidden microbial ecosystem beneath the thick sheet of ice covering Lake Enigma in Antarctica, an area long thought to be completely frozen and devoid of all life.

The ENIGMA project is funded by the National Antarctic Research Program. It challenges previous assumptions about the lake and offers a unique glimpse into life in one of Earth’s most inhospitable environments. The researchers’ findings suggest that, contrary to what was once believed, Lake Enigma has a vast body of liquid water some 45 feet beneath the surface that supports a wide variety of life forms.

In 1989, when Lake Enigma was discovered in Antarctica, it was assumed to be frozen from top to bottom — just a really big ice cube without so much as an interesting amoeba or microbe. Radar surveys conducted between 2019 and 2020, however, revealed liquid water beneath 14 meters of ice.

Scientists drilled into the ice and, using underwater cameras, took a peek at the ecosystem very deep beneath the surface. What they found were microbial mats made up of layered microorganisms. Some of these mats were 40 cm high and 60 cm wide. These are colonies of microorganisms that are built layer upon layer on themselves.

Maybe the most notable finding was the presence of Patescibacteria. After running a DNA analysis of water samples retrieved from the lake, scientists discovered it was a very small form of bacteria that had never been discovered in such an environment before.

If you’re wondering why that is significant in any way, is because researchers have no idea what role this particular bacterium is playing within this specific type of ecosystem. The researchers don’t know if it’s formed a symbiotic relationship with its environment or if it’s predatory. It all adds to the complexity of the microbial food webs of the Antarctic lakes.

Zooming out, it also helps us better predict the kinds of discoveries we may one day make about the microbial life forms on distant planets. If bacteria that isn’t normally found in such harsh environments is suddenly found in abundance, how did it get there and how did it adapt?

The researchers speculate that if they find microbial life hiding deep beneath Antarctica’s icy lakes here on Earth, for instance, who’s to say you won’t find microbial life on the icy moons of Jupiter?