In a hidden lake far below the Antarctic ice, scientists found the bodies of tiny creatures. Photos reveal how they accomplished the deep dive.

Feb 7, 2019, 21:23 IST

Priscu said he's been studying Antarctic lakes for 35 years.

Priscu and the SALSA team were deployed out of McMurdo Station, a US Antarctic research center, for this project.

After the deep hole was drilled into the ice, the team used a gravity corer — essentially a tube that gets screwed into the ice — from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute to pull samples of ice and mud back to the surface.

After the deep hole was drilled into the ice, the team used a gravity corer — essentially a tube that gets screwed into the ice — from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute to pull samples of ice and mud back to the surface.

One of the tools used by the SALSA team is called the multicorer, because it can bring up three sediment cores at a time.

To capture never-before-seen footage of the lake, the SALSA team used a torpedo-shaped robot called SCINI (Submersible Capable of Under Ice Navigation and Imaging).

SCINI is operated with a specially programmed PlayStation controller.

"It felt a little bit like we were launching a spacecraft," Zook said.

The following images are blow-by-blows of the journey down, taken from SCINI's footage. Looking down the hole from the icy surface, the first 300 feet or so is all air.

The borehole was about 18 inches in diameter, Zook said.

Before anything went down the borehole, it had to be sterilized to ensure no foreign contaminants would sully the hole or the subglacial lake below.

After a 100-meter (328-foot) journey downward, SCINI finally hit water.

More than 900 meters (2,700 feet) of water separate Lake Mercer from the 100-meter-long stretch of air above.

This is the last layer the camera passed through on its journey to the subglacial lake. "We call this the star field," Priscu said. "It's about 5 meters thick of very, very clear ice with sediment particles frozen in."

This is the last layer the camera passed through on its journey to the subglacial lake. "We call this the star field," Priscu said. "It's about 5 meters thick of very, very clear ice with sediment particles frozen in."

This is the boundary between the basal ice and the subglacial lake. "On the right is the bottom of that dirty basal ice layer, and to the left is the liquid water of the lake," Priscu said.

Finally, the camera hit rock bottom — literally.

Samples of the lake mud revealed some astonishing finds. There were not only live microbes, but also the bodies of dead crustaceans and a tardigrade. "It's the first time anything like that's been seen," Priscu said.

Samples of the lake mud revealed some astonishing finds. There were not only live microbes, but also the bodies of dead crustaceans and a tardigrade. "It's the first time anything like that's been seen," Priscu said.

The team won't yet release any images of the dead critters. "We need to do more work before we release things that we're not 100% about," Priscu said.

Priscu is hoping to eventually find more carcasses to solidify the team's findings.

But that work will have to wait until next year.

You can watch the full video of SCINI's journey down the the 3,556-foot borehole below.

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In a hidden lake far below the Antarctic ice, scientists found the bodies of tiny creatures. Photos reveal how they accomplished the deep dive.

Priscu said he's been studying Antarctic lakes for 35 years.

Priscu and the SALSA team were deployed out of McMurdo Station, a US Antarctic research center, for this project.

After the deep hole was drilled into the ice, the team used a gravity corer — essentially a tube that gets screwed into the ice — from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute to pull samples of ice and mud back to the surface.

One of the tools used by the SALSA team is called the multicorer, because it can bring up three sediment cores at a time.

To capture never-before-seen footage of the lake, the SALSA team used a torpedo-shaped robot called SCINI (Submersible Capable of Under Ice Navigation and Imaging).

SCINI is operated with a specially programmed PlayStation controller.

"It felt a little bit like we were launching a spacecraft," Zook said.

The following images are blow-by-blows of the journey down, taken from SCINI's footage. Looking down the hole from the icy surface, the first 300 feet or so is all air.

The borehole was about 18 inches in diameter, Zook said.

Before anything went down the borehole, it had to be sterilized to ensure no foreign contaminants would sully the hole or the subglacial lake below.

After a 100-meter (328-foot) journey downward, SCINI finally hit water.

More than 900 meters (2,700 feet) of water separate Lake Mercer from the 100-meter-long stretch of air above.

This is the last layer the camera passed through on its journey to the subglacial lake. "We call this the star field," Priscu said. "It's about 5 meters thick of very, very clear ice with sediment particles frozen in."

This is the boundary between the basal ice and the subglacial lake. "On the right is the bottom of that dirty basal ice layer, and to the left is the liquid water of the lake," Priscu said.

Finally, the camera hit rock bottom — literally.

Samples of the lake mud revealed some astonishing finds. There were not only live microbes, but also the bodies of dead crustaceans and a tardigrade. "It's the first time anything like that's been seen," Priscu said.

The team won't yet release any images of the dead critters. "We need to do more work before we release things that we're not 100% about," Priscu said.

Priscu is hoping to eventually find more carcasses to solidify the team's findings.

But that work will have to wait until next year.

You can watch the full video of SCINI's journey down the the 3,556-foot borehole below.