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The Times of India
The Times of India
World
TOI World Desk

Antarctic flood raised a lake by 2 metres, altering carbon cycling and microbes

In January 2019, a rare glacial flood caused an Antarctic lake to rise by two metres after a neighbouring lake released 17.5 million cubic metres of water. The event transformed Lake Untersee’s water chemistry and prompted scientists to investigate its effects on an unusual microbial ecosystem living beneath its permanent ice cover. The study, published in ResearchGate and titled ‘Glacial lake outburst floods enhance benthic microbial productivity in perennially ice-covered Lake Untersee (East Antarctica)', found that the flood altered carbon concentrations and other chemical properties, potentially supporting photosynthetic microbial activity. Researchers also analysed microbial mats for evidence of earlier flooding, finding indications that similar events may have periodically influenced the lake’s carbon cycling over thousands of years.

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