--- description: The discovery of a microbial ecosystem in a subglacial lake in Antarctica could help point to the possibilities of life on other planets. title: There's Life Beneath the Antarctic image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20c6684cf316dd8e/6986a05e3617608dd790d8d5/504673149.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Environment](/tag/environment/) ## Environment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Scientists Discover Microbes in a Subglacial Antarctic Lake by [Melissa Hellmann](/author/melissa-hellmann/) ## Melissa Hellmann Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 21, 2014 10:05 AM CUT  Ice floating in Ross Sea, Antarctica on June 15, 2014. Ice floating in Ross Sea, Antarctica on June 15, 2014.De Agostini—Getty Images by [Melissa Hellmann](/author/melissa-hellmann/) ## Melissa Hellmann Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 21, 2014 10:05 AM CUT The frozen desert of Antarctica is challenging enough for life — never mind conditions beneath that ice-bound mass. But [NBC News reports](http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/its-alive-microbes-discovered-deep-beneath-antarctic-ice-n185386 "undefined") that a recent discovery by scientists reveals the water beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to be swarming with microbes. The findings, published in _Nature_, reveal that a diverse microbe ecosystem of 4,000 distinct species [exists](http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v512/n7514/full/nature13667.html "undefined") in subglacial Lake Whillans, which lies beneath 800 m of ice. The chemoautotrophs — organisms that gain sustenance from minerals found in the water instead of from sunlight — could also hint to the possibility of life on other planets, _National Geographic_ [reports](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140820-antarctic-microbe-lake-astrobiology-science/ "undefined"). Scientists say that the conditions that the microbes live in could be similar to those in frozen lakes found on Europa or Enceladus, Jupiter’s and Saturn’s moons respectively. “The report is a landmark for the polar sciences,” Martyn Tranter, a professor at the University of Bristol (who was not involved in the study), wrote in a commentary in _Nature_. Tranter added that the discovery also raised “the question of whether microbes could eat rock beneath ice sheets on extraterrestrial bodies such as Mars.” The researchers will continue to survey Lake Whillan next winter in search of other organisms that could further point to the varying possibilities of life. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3152633/scientists-microbes-subglacial-antarctic-lake-west-antarctic-ice-sheet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3152633/scientists-microbes-subglacial-antarctic-lake-west-antarctic-ice-sheet/"},"headline":"Scientists Discover Microbes in a Subglacial Antarctic Lake","datePublished":"2014-08-21T10:05:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:46:46.810Z","description":"It could help point to the possibilities of life on other planets","url":"https://time.com/3152633/scientists-microbes-subglacial-antarctic-lake-west-antarctic-ice-sheet/","keywords":["Environment","Science topic","antarctica","microbes"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20c6684cf316dd8e/6986a05e3617608dd790d8d5/504673149.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Hellmann","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-hellmann/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20c6684cf316dd8e/6986a05e3617608dd790d8d5/504673149.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ice floes floating on water","caption":"Ice floes floating on water","creditText":"De Agostini—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3152633/scientists-microbes-subglacial-antarctic-lake-west-antarctic-ice-sheet/","name":"Scientists Discover Microbes in a Subglacial Antarctic Lake"}}]}] ```