In order to access ice that is believed to be at least 1.2 million years old, a multinational team of scientists reported Thursday that they had successfully drilled one of the oldest ice cores to date, reaching nearly 2 miles (2.8 kilometers) into Antarctic bedrock.
It is anticipated that analysis of the ancient ice will reveal the evolution of Earth’s climate and atmosphere. According to them, that should shed light on how Ice Age cycles have evolved and should aid in comprehending how atmospheric carbon altered the climate.
Carlo Barbante, an Italian glaciologist and coordinator of Beyond EPICA, the initiative to acquire the ice core, stated that we would be able to comprehend the changes in greenhouse gases, chemicals, and dusts in the atmosphere because of the core. Barbante is also the director of the National Research Council of Italy’s Polar Science Institute.
An 800,000-year-old core was previously drilled by the same team. Over the course of four years, a team of 16 scientists and support staff drilled 2.8 kilometers (about 1.7 miles) deep every summer at temperatures that averaged roughly minus-35 Celsius (minus-25.6 Fahrenheit).