Scientists in Antarctica have extracted a 2.8km-long ice core, believed to be the oldest in the world, dating back 1.2 million years. This ancient ice contains air bubbles and particles that scientists hope will shed light on major climate shifts during that period, particularly the Mid-Pleistocene Transition when glacial cycles changed drastically.
What is probably the world's oldest ice, dating back 1.2m years ago, has been dug out from deep within Antarctica .
The European scientists worked over four Antarctic summers, racing against seven nations to be first to reach the rock under the frozen continent.Their work could help unravel one of the major mysteries in our planet's climate history - what happened 900,000-1.2 million years ago when glacial cycles were disrupted and"It's an amazing achievement," says Prof Carlo Barbante at Ca' Foscari University of Venice who co-ordinated the research.
They trap bubbles of air and particles that reveal levels of greenhouse gas emissions and temperature variation that help scientists plot how climatic conditions have altered over time. The team had a "nail-biting last few days" as they were able to drill even deeper than anticipated from radar data, says Dr Robert Mulvaney, an ice core scientist at British Antarctic Survey.The core was slowly pulled from the ice sheet using a drill machinery and scientists carefully carefully cleaned the ice using cloths.
Climate Change Ice Core Antarctica Climate History Mid-Pleistocene Transition
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