Satellite laser altimeter data from NASA's ICESat had revealed the ice at that location rising and falling, leading her team to conclude the presence of the lake.

[4] Over the following days the team collected water samples and also sediment cores from the lake bottom.

[1] The ecosystem is apparently based on the oxidation of ammonia and methane from sediments laid down at least 120,000 years ago.

[2] According to WISSARD, the project “marks the first successful retrieval of clean whole samples from an Antarctic subglacial lake”.

In particular, the moons Europa (Jupiter) and Enceladus (Saturn) have large amounts of liquid water beneath icy crusts.