The ice cap has sealed the saline brine from external air and water for thousands of years, creating a time capsule for ancient DNA.

[2] The lake gained widespread recognition in December 2002 when a research team, led by the University of Illinois at Chicago's Peter Doran, announced the discovery of 2,800‑year‑old halophile microbes (primarily filamentous cyanobacteria) preserved in ice layer core samples drilled in 1996.

[4][5] A 2010 field campaign, funded by the National Science Foundation through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, to investigate the microbiology and geochemistry of Lake Vida.

Led by Peter Doran and Alison Murray from Nevada's Desert Research Institute, the expedition recovered ice cores, brine and sediment samples from the lake using clean drilling procedures to avoid contamination.

[7] In addition to the unmanned observation station, a 5-day emergency supply of food for 6 people is cached 600 metres (2,000 ft) from the southwestern shore.

The United States Geological Survey's Atlas of Antarctic Research maps up to nine Lake Vida inflows or outflows including Victoria River and Kite Stream.

Meltwater flows for a few weeks in the summer months when temperatures rise sufficiently for the nearby glaciers to melt.

[10] The Victoria Valley dunefield, an approximately 1.5 km2 belt which is about 3.1 km long, lies to the east of Lake Vida.

[14] Scientists have found life in an Antarctic Lake Vida that was sealed off from the outside world by a thick sheet of ice several thousands of years ago.