Despite their assumption that the lake was frozen and devoid of organisms, ground-penetrating radar scans indicated the presence of liquid water underneath ice caps ranging between roughly 11 and 36 feet deep.

An international team of polar researchers has found several types of microbiota living in the water below the frozen surface of Antarctica's Lake Enigma. In their study, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment,

What would you expect to find within a permanently frozen Antarctic lake? As if the name Lake Enigma wasn’t mysterious enough, polar scientists have just discovered unique microbial groups living their best lives beneath its icy surface.