Antarctic subglacial drilling effort suspended

British team calls off campaign to penetrate Lake Ellsworth

One of three major efforts to drill into buried Antarctic lakes has ended without success. A British-led project to plumb the subglacial Lake Ellsworth ground to a halt on Christmas Eve, after the team could not properly connect two portions of the drilling system.

GOING DEEP Technicians guide a hot-water drill down a borehole into the ice above Lake Ellsworth.