Unsealing Subglacial Lake Vostok: Lessons and implications for future full-scale exploration

The deep holes drilled at Vostok Station by the Russian Antarctic Expedition reached the surface of Subglacial Lake Vostok twice — on February 5, 2012 and January 25, 2015. Two unsealings of the largest subglacial water body on Earth, led by Nikolay Vasiliev, have become remarkable events in the history of Antarctic science. To preserve all the twists and turns of this pioneering work for the ice-drilling community, we have compiled and carefully analyzed all the available drilling, geophysical, and glaciological observations made prior to, during, and after the lake piercings. Based on that information, in this paper we have pieced together a detailed narrative of these two unprecedented drilling operations in the hope that the lessons learned may prove useful for future environmental stewardship, scientific investigations, and technological developments related to the exploration of Lake Vostok.