The ice crystals found during the drilling of the well to the Antarctic Lake Vostok may be the largest ones found on Earth.

In early February 2012 the specialists of the drilling crew of the 57th Russian Antarctic Expedition for the first time entered the lake hidden under the Antarctic ice which is 4 kilometers thick, after decades of drilling. As it was previously reported, during the drilling of the well Russian polar explorers found unusual giant ice crystals, which interested the physicists. The unique conditions of the Lake Vostok allow the ice crystals to grow very slowly, at a rate of about five millimeters per year which makes them very clean and almost perfect - this quality cannot be achieved in the laboratory conditions.