Further, studies carried out during the austral summer confirm the lake's homogeneous characteristics, with thermal convection as the reason given for its hydro-geochemical and isotropical nature.

Geodetic studies carried out during two summer seasons indicated that the boulders move at an annual rate of 1.1–3.9 metres (3.6–12.8 ft).

[1] There were sharp vertical gradients of temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen and electrical conductivity.

[1] The salt content of the upper levels of the lake is about 50 times that of glacial melt water.

[2] Salinity increased below 80 metres (260 ft), with sodium ion concentration and electrolytic conductivity more than doubling.

[12] In 2008, as part of the Tawani Foundation 2008 Antarctic International Expedition (see below), Dale Andersen and Ian Hawes discovered conical stromatolites growing in Lake Untersee, the largest living ones known to date.

In November and December 2008, the "Tawani Foundation 2008 Antarctic International Expedition" headed by Richard Hoover of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center used the lake as a test bed in its hunt for extreme life.

The expedition did find several new strains of extremophile microorganisms in the lake's waters, including a chemolithotroph that metabolises hydrogen.

[13] This expedition involved an interdisciplinary international team of ten scientists and two teachers who explored not only Lake Untersee but also the Schirmacher Oasis.

to be used for the exploration of the Mars regolith and poles; monitor global climate change; and to evaluate methods for detecting hydrocarbon contamination and subsequent bio-remediation in a fragile, endangered ecosystem.

[3] Experiments conducted have examined the metagenomes of eukaryotes; identified Prokaryotes and viruses inhabiting the lake; provided evidence of virus-mediated horizontal gene transfer and adaptive metabolic or cold protective phenotype alterations, identified microbial nanowire connections between multiple species at the ice-water interface, in the water column, and in the sediment; and established biomass estimates of life in the lake ice during the early spring growing season using laser-induced fluorescence emission (L.I.F.E.)