Subglacial lakes found in Canada

Researchers have found lakes that may shed new light on icy worlds in our Solar System. High in the Canadian Arctic, two subglacial bodies of water have been spotted beneath over 500 metres of ice. The water has an estimated maximum temperature of -10.5C, and would need to be very salty to avoid freezing. There are thought to be similar cold, saline conditions in the subsurface ocean of Jupiter's moon Europa, yet also the potential to host life.

These are the first subglacial lakes to be observed in the Canadian Arctic, and are estimated to cover areas of five and eight square kilometres respectively. The water in the lakes is estimated to be five times as salty as seawater, allowing its freezing point to be lowered below that of fresh water. Other subglacial lakes in Greenland and Antarctica contain fresh water, generated by melting at the base of the ice. Geothermal heat rises from the underlying rock, and is insulated by the thick ice sheet above. The Canadian ice sheet is not thick enough to provide this insulation.

There are many answers researchers want to search for next. There may be an entire network of lakes in this region, beyond the two so far observed, and their size has yet to be determined. However the potential for these environments to host life is a pressing question, as they may represent a largely isolated microbial habitat. The study's authors suggest the lakes may have been sealed off from surrounding environments for up to 120,000 years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-43701375