Andrey Kapitsa | |
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| Born | Andrey Petrovich Kapitsa Андрей Петрович Капица (1931-07-09)9 July 1931 Cambridge, England |
| Died | 2 August 2011(2011-08-02) (aged 80) Moscow, Russia |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Citizenship | Russia |
| Alma mater | MSU Faculty of Geography |
| Known for | discovery of the largestsubglacial lake inAntarctica,Lake Vostok |
| Awards | USSR State Prize (1971),Dmitry Anuchin Prize (1972),Honorary Scientist of Russia[1][2] |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | geography |
| Institutions | MSU Faculty of Geography (dean in 1965–1970),RAS |
Andrey Petrovich Kapitsa (Russian:Андре́й Петро́вич Капи́ца; 9 July 1931 – 2 August 2011) was a Soviet and Russiangeographer andAntarctic explorer, discoverer ofLake Vostok, the largestsubglacial lake inAntarctica.[3] He was a member of theKapitsa family, a scientific dynasty in Russia.
Kapitsa was the first to suggest the existence of Lake Vostok in the region ofVostok Station in Antarctica, based on seismic soundings of the thickness of theAntarctic ice sheet. These measures were obtained during theSoviet Antarctic Expeditions, in four of which Kapitsa participated.[4] The discovery of Lake Vostok was one of the last major geographic discoveries.[1][3]
Andrey Kapitsa's father was Nobel Prize-winning physicistPyotr Kapitsa,[5] and his maternal grandfather was mathematician and naval engineerAleksey Krylov. Pyotr Kapitsa's sonsSergey and Andrey were born inCambridge, United Kingdom, where their father was conducting research.[1][5]
Andrey graduated fromMoscow State University,Faculty of Geography, in 1953. He worked in the Laboratory of Experimental Geomorphology at the faculty since.[1]
In 1958 Kapitsa defended hisCandidate of Sciences thesis "Morphology ofEast Antarctic Ice Sheet" («Морфология ледникового покрова Восточной Антарктиды»), and in 1968 he defended hisDoctor of Science thesis "Subglacial relief of Antarctica" («Подлёдный рельеф Антарктиды»). Kapitsa was a participant in fourSoviet Antarctic Expeditions between 1955 and 1964.[1]
At the end of the 19th century Russian scientistPeter Kropotkin proposed the idea of the existence offresh water under Antarcticice sheets. He theorized that the tremendous pressure exerted by the cumulative mass of thousands of vertical meters of ice could increase the temperature at the lowest portions of the ice sheet to the point where the ice would melt. Kropotkin's theory was later developed by Russianglaciologist I.A Zotikov, who wrote his PhD thesis on this subject in 1967.[6]
Andrey Kapitsa used seismic soundings in the region ofVostok Station made during the Soviet Antarctic Expeditions in 1959 and 1964 to measure the thickness of the ice sheet, discovering two spikes of reflection (one from bedrock and another from the sediment layer).[6] Kapitsa was the first to suggest the existence of a subglacial lake in this region, which came to be known as Lake Vostok.[1][4] The lake was named after Vostok Station, which in turn had been named after theVostok, the 900-toncorvette of the discoverer of Antarctica,Russian explorerAdmiralFabian von Bellingshausen. The wordвосток means "east" in Russian, and the name of the station and the lake also reflects the fact that they are located in the East of Antarctica.[7]
By 1993, the research of Russian and British scientists confirmed the existence of the lake,[6] and subsequent research established its features. Othersubglacial lakes were also discovered.[8]
Kapitsa was the dean of his alma materMSU Faculty of Geography in 1966–1970.[1] In 1967–1969 he was the leader of theSoviet Academy of Sciences Expedition in the East Africa.[4] He was elected into the ranks of the Academy in 1970 and was honored with a 1971USSR State Prize and 1972MSU'sDmitry Anuchin Prize for the creation of theAtlas of Antarctica.[1] He supported the theory of natural causes behind the Antarcticozone hole[9] as well as the theory of natural reasons behindglobal warming.[4]
Kapitsa died in Moscow on 2 August 2011 at the age of 80.[1] Half a year later, on 6 February 2012, after twenty years of drilling, a team of Russian scientists completed the longest everice core of 3,768 meters and pierced the Antarctic ice shield to reach the surface ofLake Vostok.[10]
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