The locations of Antarctic subglacial lakes (adapted from reference [5]). Colours/shapes denote the type of investigations undertaken at each site: Black/triangle, radio-echo sounding; yellow, seismic sounding; green, gravitational field mapping; red/circle,surface height change measurement; square, shape identified from ice surface feature. Lake Vostok, far the largest subglacial lake, is shown in outline. (Online version in colour.)