Russian scientists have completed an expedition to one of the most mysterious places on earth. According to researchers, the so-called lake of non-melting ice in Chukotka arose millions of years ago and, possibly, even has an unearthly origin. However, this is not his only secret
Lake of non-melting ice or in Chukchi Elgygytgan is one of the most mysterious places on Earth. In scientific circles, they still argue about its origin. Magadan scientists, together with colleagues from the Institute of the Arctic and Antarctic and specialists from the United States and Germany, probed the bottom of the reservoir and took samples. It took several years to study the minerals and plants found at the bottom of the ancient lake. During this time, scientists have made many unexpected conclusions even for themselves. Researchers have made sure that the lake is most likely of unearthly origin. And if earlier it was assumed that its appearance could be the result of an internal explosion, now experts believe otherwise.
“In these sands were found spherules, small balls that consisted of glass and iron droplets. In places where meteorites fall, the same spherules are also found,”says Natalya Savva, Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, an employee of the North-Eastern Complex Research Institute of the Far Eastern District of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
But the main conclusion of the researchers still concerns the climate. On the site of the ancient lake, and therefore in the whole in the Northeast, it was once much warmer. Apple trees in the last 300 thousand years, of course, did not bloom here, but taiga plants were still found.
“In the cut, we found quite large sticks of alder. Using radiocarbon analysis, we determined the age and found that about 8-9 thousand years ago, quite large shrubs grew on the site of this polar desert,”says Olga Glushkova, Ph. D.
The climate is changing now, scientists say. And according to the climatic map of the region in 300 thousand years it is already possible to make predictions.
“We have already crossed that climatic optimum when it was the warmest time on Earth. And we must, proceeding from the rhythms of climate change, we must move towards cooling, glaciation, - said Vladimir Smirnov, Doctor of Geography, Head of the Laboratory of the North-Eastern Complex Research Institute of the Far Eastern District of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
It should get colder all over the globe, scientists say, but this may not happen. Technogenic factors influence the climate too much. During the next expedition in 2009, Magadan geographers plan to drill an 800-meter-deep well in the lake. Then, the researchers say, it will be possible not only to see the past, but also to look into the future.