Texas A&M University Oceanography Professor Mahlon "Chuck" Kennicutt II says the National Science Foundation and 11 nations involved in Antarctic research and exploration are considering how to study the unique environments, which include at least 145 lakes under Antarctica's massive ice sheets.

Several of the lakes are immense, and one, Lake Vostok, is similar in size to Lake Ontario -- roughly 5,400 square miles.

"These bodies of water are several miles beneath the ice sheet which took millions of years to form, meaning these lakes have been undisturbed and disconnected from our atmosphere for hundreds of thousands of years," said Kennicutt, a director of the Subglacial Antarctic Lake Environments office, located at the university. "It is highly likely unique microbial communities that we never knew existed are lake residents."

Antarctica is the only continent on Earth that's managed through an international treaty signed by 45 nations representing two-thirds of the world's population. By unanimous consent, Antarctica has been viewed as a continent for science, research and peace.