by Mike Bennett
I think the most intriguing part of the story of Lake Toplitz is that recovered Nazi documentation revealed that the Nazi Naval Research Centre performed a thorough survey of the lake prior to commencing operations there.
This 1942 survey recorded the deepest point as having a depth of just over 120 metres. Local farmers reported that after the Nazis had been observed dumping crates into the lake for many days, demolition crews drilled into the mountainside at this point, and the subsequent huge explosion brought down an entire section of the mountainside into the lake. Today the maximum surveyed depth of the lake is recorded as being 107 metres. Whatever was dumped in there by the Nazis now lies buried beneath some 13 metres of rock on the lake floor, and will almost certainly never be found.
We will now turn our attention to what is, in my opinion, the most fascinating and controversial lake that I have ever come across, namely Lake Vostok. Most people assume that Antarctica is too cold to hold any liquid water. This is not, in fact, the case. The region around the North Pole in the Arctic is merely frozen ice floating on the surface of the ocean, and it is not a landmass. Antarctica on the other hand is a continent, but due to its position surrounding the South Pole, it is permanently covered by up to four kilometres of ice.
However one of the major geological features of our planet is a huge rift zone that originates in Antarctica. It then runs under the Southern Ocean, into the Indian Ocean and makes landfall in East Africa. There it manifests itself as the East African Rift Valley, containing the Serengeti and Maasai Mari that we are all familiar with. This rift zone then continues from the Horn of Africa, northwards through the Red Sea, and then runs north through the Middle East. It finally stops on reaching the Zagros Fold and Thrust Belt, which geologically defines the eastern limit of the Persian Gulf oil fields.
Due to the geothermal heat created along this rift zone, rivers and lakes of liquid water are present on the rocky surface of Antarctica below the ice sheet. The liquid water in these features has been of great interest to scientists for many years, as the flora, forna and other biology that the systems contain will have evolved independently from other systems on the planet due to their complete isolation.
A number of incidents that have occurred over the years make Lake Vostok particularly intriguing. Firstly, the US military sent a naval task force there soon after World War II, the details of which remain classified to this day. Secondly there has been a lot of very unusual seismic activity around Lake Vostok that has been detected on seismographs around the world. The specific type of activity recorded should not occur in a geological area such as this.
Finally on 24th January 2001, all of the studies of Lake Vostok and the surrounding area were taken away from the US geological survey and NASA’s JPL, and sole authority and control over all future investigations of the lake was given to the American National Security Agency (NSA). The NSA is the most covert department within the US secret service, even eclipsing the CIA. One wonders why this authority transfer took place, as the NSA are not the agency of choice to conduct a biological survey of a lake.
Lake Vostok is the largest of Antarctica’s almost 400 known sub-glacial lakes. It was named after Russia’s nearby Vostok Station, and lies under the surface of the central East Antarctic Ice Sheet, which is at 3,488 metres (11,444 feet) above mean sea level. The surface of this freshwater lake is approximately 4,000 metres (13,100 feet) under the surface of the ice, which places it at approximately 500 metres (1,600 feet) below sea level. Measuring 250 km long by 50 km wide at its widest point, and covering an area of 12,500 square kilometres, it contains an estimated volume of 5,400 cubic kilometres (1,300 cubic miles) of fresh water. The lake is divided into two deep basins by a ridge. The liquid water over the ridge has a depth of about 200 metres (700 feet), compared to roughly 400 metres (1,300 feet) of depth in the northern basin and 800 metres (2,600 feet) in the southern basin.
Studies of Lake Vostok have been undertaken by scientists from Russia, the USA, the UK, Germany and Japan at various times. The lake was drilled into by Russian scientists in 2012. The overlying ice provides a continuous paleo-climatic record of 400,000 years, although the lake water itself may have been isolated for up to twenty-five million years. On 5th February 2012, a team of Russian scientists claimed to have completed the longest ever ice core of 3,768 metres (12,400 feet), and pierced the ice shield to the surface of the lake. As soon as the ice was pierced, water from the underlying lake gushed up the borehole.
The first core of freshly frozen lake ice was obtained on 10th January 2013 at a depth of 3,406 metres (11,175 feet), and it is still being analysed. The Russian team plans to lower a probe into the lake to collect water samples and sediments from the lake bottom. It is hypothesised that unusual forms of life could be found in the lake’s liquid layer, a fossil water reserve. Lake Vostok contains an environment that has been sealed off below the ice in conditions which could resemble those of the hypothesised ice-covered ocean of Jupiter’s moon Europa.
The coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth (-89°C), was recorded at Vostok Station on 21st July 1983. The average water temperature of the lake is estimated to be just below 0°C. It remains liquid below the normal freezing point because of the high pressure caused by the weight of the ice above it. Geothermal heat from the Earth’s interior is also available to warm the bottom of the lake. The ice sheet itself insulates the lake from cold temperatures on the surface.
German, Russian and Japanese researchers have also found that the lake has tides.
I find Lake Vostok so fascinating because sub-glacial lakes are completely different to anything that can be found at the Earth’s surface. Although this lake is of a comparable size to some of the largest surface lakes on Earth, we know almost nothing about it. The fact that it could possibly hold ancient bacteria, or other forms of life, and provide scientists with information on possible life form evolvement on Europa and elsewhere is extremely exciting.
While researching this chapter, I have come across a lot of conspiracy theories regarding this lake. I believe that is because we know so little about it that some people’s minds go into overdrive. The conspiracies that I have seen range from secret UFO bases to an underground city inhabited by the remains of the Third Reich. In my opinion, the first theory is 99.9 percent implausible, and the second theory completely implausible. However something unusual must be going on there because of the way that the authorities clam up when information is requested.
Firstly, it is a matter of public record that US Admiral Byrd led an expedition to Antarctica in 1946. This was not a scientific research expedition, but consisted of a flotilla of warships. I requested information on this subject under the Freedom of Information Act, but no information was forthcoming. In other words, whatever happened you’re not about to find out about it any time soon.
Secondly, scientists today have a good understanding of the geology of the Antarctic continent. Some of the seismic activity recorded, and known to have originated in Antarctica, does not appear to have come from any normal geological processes. The intense, one-off and very short-lived spikes of P and S waves seen have nothing like the waveform or duration of earthquakes and other natural events. They resemble explosions as would be used in mining and tunnelling, but this type of activity is not supposed to be going on in Antarctica.
Finally, to the best of my knowledge, nobody has ever been given a rational explanation as to why the NSA should take over the US investigations of this lake. Lack of transparency on this point will only go to fuel further speculation regarding conspiracies, which is not good for the scientific community.
EPILOGUE
At the start of this book, the author asked that the reader set aside any preconceptions they may have regarding science and technology, and to examine the facts presented in the book with an open mind. I would like to think that having now read the book, the reader will be as fascinated by modern science as I am.
This book does not include a c
onclusions section as is normal, and it is left for the readers to draw their own conclusions regarding the many topics discussed. The information presented in this book comes from my discussions and meetings with many people, but mostly those in the scientific, military and industrial communities.
As we go through life, we meet many different people, and certainly my opinions on a variety of subjects have been profoundly changed and influenced through discussions with the people that I have encountered both on a professional and personal level.
I am now semi-retired, but still perform consulting work for various companies in the oil and gas industry. This work takes me to many countries, and I find that even at my age I am still learning all the time from the new people that I meet.
I am convinced that our knowledge of science will continue to expand at an exponential rate, and it will not be that long before we are actually travelling to the planets and, eventually, to the stars. It will certainly not happen in my lifetime, but for readers who are still in high school it may very well happen in yours.
The first manmade electricity was not generated until the 1830s. Within the next hundred years we had developed global electronic communications systems and national power grids, concepts that would not have even been thought of at that time.
Similarly, within less than a hundred years of the Wright brothers making their historic first flight of a few tens of metres, men were walking on the moon. Anyone who had suggested this possibility at that time would probably have been considered insane.
I hope that I have sparked an interest in physics and science in general among those who have read this book, and I sincerely hope that this book has maybe encouraged you to follow your dreams in life.
BACKGROUND
The inspiration to write this book came after reading the Stephen Hawking bestseller A Brief History of Time. The appeal of this book was such that it has sold over ten million copies worldwide. Stephen Hawking is a brilliant physicist, but nonetheless still a pure academic.
ABOUT THE BOOK
The book approaches the history of science and technology from a completely new angle. As the book progresses it becomes ever more intriguing, starting to explore the interaction between the giant industrial-military corporations and the intelligence-security services. These groups have effectively driven and funded modern science. A great amount of information in these areas is disclosed which has hitherto been unpublished. The book has now been completed with many illustrations. The author believes that no comparable or competing books have been published.
QUALIFICATION TO WRITE
ON THIS SUBJECT
The author is an honours physics graduate, engineer and successful entrepreneur.
He has decades of experience interacting with global industrial groups and the intelligence-security services worldwide. In addition to presenting a history of science and technology, the book relates these experiences with a considerable amount of levity.
The author has had long conversations with many people, ranging from leading politicians, diplomats, billionaire heads of industry and security agents from many countries, to beggars, thieves and leaders of rogue nations. With few exceptions, he finds that you can learn a lot from most people if you take the time to listen to them.
The information presented in this book is factual. In cases where the information is inferred or taken from third party accounts this is stated. In some cases where the information presented comes from confidential sources or individuals who do not wish to be identified, their names have been changed.
