Igor Alekseevich Zotikov (Russian: Зотиков, Игорь Алексеевич) (March 7, 1926 – August 23, 2010) was a Russian glaciologist, polar explorer and academic. Zotikov was best known for predicting the existence of fresh water lakes under the Antarctic ice sheet, later to be discovered as Lake Vostok. For his efforts a glacier was named after him, Zotikov Glacier.
Zotikov wrote his thesis based on the findings from the expedition. The thesis was published in 1963 by the International Association of Hydrological Sciences. Zotikov's thesis discussed the interaction between the ocean and glaciation. Obtaining results from the IGY, regarding thermal physics of large ice sheets, it theoretically showed that in the central part of the ice sheet, there could be continuous melting and freshwater subglacial lakes underneath the Antarctic ice.[4]
Zotikov was not the first scientist to propose the idea of fresh water under the Antarctica's ice sheets. At the end of the 19th century, Peter Kropotkin theorized that the immense weight of ice can cause a significant amount of pressure, which can lower the pressure melting point of the ice sheet's lower parts. As a result, the ice may turn into liquid water..[5]
In 1963 Zotikov wrote his dissertation furthering Kropotkin's theory. His DSc thesis observed that the temperature at the bottom of the ice sheet below Vostok Station is at the melting point of ice and it is located beneath the thickest part of the ice sheet. Zotikov observed that lakes might exist at the ice/rock barrier, and that microorganisms could exist there.[6][5]
The National Science Foundation invited Zotikov to join the Ross Ice Shelf Project investigating whether freezing or melting occurs at the bottom of the Ross Ice Shelf. He worked on this project from 1972 to 1978 and wrote two papers based on his findings, Thermal Drilling of the Glacier[7] and Antifreeze-thermodrilling for Core Through the Central Part of the Ross Ice Shelf (J-9 Camp), Antarctica.[8] Both papers were published by the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory.
Confirmation of the existence of Lake Vostok occurred in 1993 by G.P. Ridley (UK) using the European Remote-Sensing Satellite's laser altimetry.[5] A subsequent paper was published in the journal Nature in 1996 co-authored by Zotikov.[9]
Zotikov is the author of two scientific books about his findings in Antarctica. The Thermophysics of Glaciers[12] and The Antarctic Subglacial Lake Vostok: Glaciology, Biology and Planetology,[6] the later summing up his lifetime of scientific papers on the subject.
In his later years Zotikov wrote several non-fiction books that were self-published in Russia such as I was not looking for a kiwi bird and Picnic on the Appalachian Trail.[14]
Zotikov was not the first scientist to propose the idea of fresh water under the Antarctica's ice sheets. At the end of the 19th century, Peter Kropotkin theorized that "the tremendous pressure exerted by the cumulative mass of thousands of vertical meters of ice could decrease the melting point at the lowest portions of the ice sheet to the point where the ice would become liquid water".[5]
In 1963 Zotikov wrote his dissertation furthering Kropotkin's theory. His DSc thesis indicated "the temperature at the bottom of the ice sheet below Vostok Station to be at the ice melting point as well as being beneath the thickest part of the ice sheet". It occurred to him that lakes might exist at the ice/rock barrier, and that microorganisms could exist there.[6][5]
Confirmation of the existence of Lake Vostok occurred in 1993 by G.P. Ridley (UK) using the European Remote-Sensing Satellite's laser altimetry.[5] A subsequent paper was published in the journal Nature in 1996 co-authored by Zotikov.[9]
Zotikov died on August 23, 2010, from Prostate cancer[15] and is buried at the Vostryakovskoe cemetery in Moscow, Russia.[16]
Three years after Zotikov's death, On July 3, 2013, a paper was published titled Subglacial Lake Vostok (Antarctica) Accretion Ice Contains a Diverse Set of Sequences from Aquatic, Marine and Sediment-Inhabiting Bacteria and Eukarya in the PLOS One journal by the Public Library of Science, confirming there is life in Lake Vostok.[17]
The Thermal and Compositional Structure of the Koettlitz Ice Tongue, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica (1966). International Conference on Low Temperature Science; Conference on Physics of Snow and Ice; Conference on Cryobiology.[20]
Core Drilling Through the Ross Ice Shelf (Antarctica) Confirmed Basal Freezing (1980). Science[21]
Large deep freshwater lake beneath the ice of central East Antarctica (1996). Nature[9]
The Kolka-Karmadon rock/ice slide of 20 September 2002: An extraordinary event of historical dimensions in North Ossetia, Russian Caucasus (2004). Journal of Glaciology[11]
^ abKahlil Gibran Collective (January 20, 2020). "Translations for The Prophet now stands at 112". kahlilgibran.com. Retrieved May 16, 2023. Russian: Prorok, trans. Igor Alekseyevich Zotikov, ed. I. Zotikova, Moscow (Russia): Raduga, 1989.