Humans have been recording climate change for thousands of years, however, Antarctic ice has been around for millions more.
An international team of scientists has excavated a 2.8 km long ice core in Antarctica. Hit the rocky surface of the frozen continent The core represents a chronological record of Earth's weather and atmosphere. The oldest ice dates back to 1.2 million years ago or more. Success announced in statement The “Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice” project is expected to provide insights into one of climate science's most enduring questions.
It should be made clear that this record does not make the ice core the oldest ever—that recognition belongs to Ice core 2.7 million years old It recovered in 2017. What makes the Beyond EPICA core special is its continuous, high-resolution climate record spanning 1.2 million years, providing important insights into ancient atmospheric conditions and glacial cycles.
“We have marked a historic moment for climate and environmental science,” said Carlo Barbante of Ca' Foscari University of Venice, coordinator of Beyond EPICA. The core was retrieved during the project's fourth Antarctic campaign. “This is the longest continuous record of our past climate from an ice core. and can reveal the link between the carbon cycle and the temperature of our planet.”
Between 900,000 and 1.2 million years ago, the glacial cycle changed from 41,000 years to 100,000 years, a change known as the Pleistocene transition. The Beyond EPICA project aims to better understand this ancient climate phenomenon.
Led by the Italian National Research Council's Institute of Polar Sciences (ISP-CNR), scientists worked for more than 200 days, drilling into the ice and processing ice cores at a remote area in East Antarctica called Little Dome Sea. The average summer temperature is a comfortable -31 degrees Fahrenheit (-35 degrees Celsius).
“Based on the preliminary analysis recorded at Little Dome Sea, We have strong indications that the 2,480 meter (1.54 mile) uppermost peak contains a climate record going back 1.2 million years in a high-resolution record that compresses 13,000 years into one. One meter of ice,” said Julian Westhoff, a doctoral student at the University of Copenhagen. and Chief Scientist of the EPICA project branch said
The deepest and oldest part of the core, closest to the bedrock. Made from ancient ice “which is very deformed May be mixed or re-frozen. and their origin is unknown” as well as rocks from the bedrock. This section will help improve scientists' understanding of how new ice freezes beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. The history of glaciation in the Antarctic region And the last time the continent was free of ice.
The project still faces major obstacles. There are especially logistical challenges in transporting segmented ice cores to the lab without risking melting.
“The precious ice cores extracted during the campaign will be transported back to Europe by the icebreaker Laura Bassi, maintaining cold chain temperatures of -50°C (-58 degrees F),” Gianluca Bianchi Fasani. Head of the Italian National Office for Logistics of New Technology, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) for Beyond EPICA “To achieve this goal The strategy has been developed involving the design of ultra-refrigerated containers and the precise scheduling of the National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA) air and naval assets.”
Now that the segmented ice core has found its way to the (very cold) lab, it remains to be seen what secrets researchers can unlock in the ancient climate record.