Antarctica is home to the largest ice mass on Earth. The continent sits on 14 million square kilometers of rock. About 98 percent of the land surface is covered by ice. Beautiful lakes have begun to appear on the top of the ice. They look like islands of deep blue in an ocean of white. These lakes are called supraglacial or meltwater lakes. Although the lakes can be beautiful, the ones scientists studied are a sign of trouble. Amber Leeson is a scientist with Lancaster University in England. We really weren't expecting to find lakes as far inland as 20 kilometers, which was the furthest inland lake we found during the study. And it was important that we found the link between the atmospheric temperature and the depth, number, and size of the lakes... Scientists say Antarctica has always had supraglacial lakes appearing on the ice during the summer months.