'Colder and deeper': Scientists close in on spot to drill Antarctic ice core 1.5m years old

[Judi Lynn]

Australian Antarctic Division will drill 3,000 metres deep in bid to improve ancient climate records and future models

Graham Readfearn

@readfearn Email
Fri 12 Feb 2021 14.00 ESTLast modified on Fri 12 Feb 2021 20.26 EST

Antarctic scientists are close to finalising a drilling location deep in the frozen continent’s interior that could reveal a continuous record of the Earth’s climate going back 1.5 million years.

After almost a decade of work, scientists at the Australian Antarctic Division are close to pinpointing a place to drill an ice core almost 3,000-metres deep.

A successful mission would give scientists a reliable record of the Earth’s ancient climate that would be half a million years or more older than current ice core records.

Daily temperatures average -51C (-60F) at the location, known as Little Dome C, which is about 1,100km inland from Australia’s Casey research base.

The continent’s ancient ice contains air bubbles trapped and sealed off over millennia that work like tiny time capsules of the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/13/colder-and-deeper-scientists-close-in-on-spot-to-drill-antarctic-ice-core-15m-years-old

[Rick Rolle]

1. I look forward to reading their findings.

This is the kind of research taxpayers should be funding, along with renewable energy, safe nuclear, and reversing global warming.