Igor Zotikov

Zotikov was born on March 7, 1926, in Moscow, Russia.[1] In 1949 Zotikov graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute as an engineer. Although he wanted to be a test pilot, he did not fly due to near-sightedness.[2]

He received his Doctor of Sciences in geology from the Energy Institute Krzhizhanovsky under the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union (Russian Academy of Sciences).[2] Interested in glaciology, he joined the expedition to Antarctica during the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957–1958.[3]

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]

Before Zotikov became a glaciologist, in between college and his postgraduate education, he worked for three years on the heat transfer and thermodynamic problems of designing jet engines. Following that he worked from 1952 until 1958 on the atmospheric entry problems of the first Soviet ballistic missile, the R-7 Semyorka. His work was related to the melting and evaporation of the missile's nose by the heat that was generated re-entering Earth's atmosphere.[6]

After receiving his Doctor of Sciences, Zotikov worked for the Russian Academy of Sciences. During his forty-year career with the academy he spent several years overwintering both at the Russian Vostok Station and United States' McMurdo Station. In 1965, as a Soviet exchange scientist and member of Operation Deep Freeze '65, Zotikov studied the process of freezing and melting at the bottom of the Ross Ice Shelf and collaborated with leading American specialists on deep drilling.[6]

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]

In 2003 and 2004 Zotikov received a grant from the Fulbright Foundation for eight months on the project Geographical Study of Lake Vostok in Antarctica. The project was conducted under the direction of Roger Barry who was a director at the National Snow and Ice Data Center of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences of the University of Colorado Boulder.[6][10] Zotikov co-authored a paper published in the Journal of Glaciology in 2004 about his findings, The Kolka-Karmadon rock/ice slide of 20 September 2002: An extraordinary event of historical dimensions in North Ossetia, Russian Caucasus.[11]

Location of Lake Vostok in East Antarctica

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]

• Two Order of the Badge of Honour[2]
• Antarctic Service Medal[15]
• Zotikov Glacier namesake[18]
• Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation[19]

a.^ Zotikov was the first to translate the book The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran into Russian, published by Raduga in 1989. The original publication was in 1923 by Alfred A. Knopf.

• Profile of Igor Alekseevich Zotikov Google translation on the official website of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Self-published books (Fiction) by Igor Zotikov Google translation