Lake Bonney (Antarctica)
Lake Bonney is a saline lake with permanent ice cover at the western end of Taylor Valley in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Victoria Land, Antarctica.
It is long and up to wide. A narrow channel only wide separates the lake into East Lake Bonney and West Lake Bonney.
To the north and south of the lake lie peaks that are over above sea level, and the Taylor Glacier is positioned to the west of the lake. It is deep and is perpetually trapped under of ice.
It was first visited by the British Antarctic Expedition of 1901-1904. It was named by the Scott expedition of 1910-1913, for Thomas George Bonney, professor of geology at University College London, England from 1877 to 1901.
Lake Bonney is one of the main lakes studied by the National Science Foundations, McMurdo Long Term Ecological Research site.
Starting in 2007 NASA is funding an autonomous submersible robot called ENDURANCE to explore the water volume of the lake to study its shape and ecology. The robot is built by Stone Aerospace who also developed the DEPTHX submersible. The Endurance Project is led by Peter Doran with Bill Stone and John Priscu among the co-investigators. Scientists have discovered an ancient ecosystem beneath the Taylor Glacier, next to Lake Bonney. This ecosystem survives by transforming sulfur and iron compounds for growth.
The work is seen as a stage in developing an autonomous submersible robot that could explore the ocean on Jupiter's moon Europa.Tributaries
Lake Bonney is fed by a number of meltwater streams:
