Humans have been recording the conditions for yard of years . Antarctic methamphetamine hydrochloride , however , has been at it for over a million .
An outside team of scientist has pull out a 1.74 - mile - longsighted ( 2.8 klick ) Methedrine heart and soul in Antarctica , hitting the flash-frozen continent ’s fundamental principle . The core map a chronological registry of Earth ’s climate and standard atmosphere , with the old ice see back as far as 1.2 million geezerhood ago , if not more . The achievement , announced in astatementby the “ Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice ” task , is expected to provide perceptivity on one of clime skill ’s most enduring interrogation .
It ’s deserving clarifying that this record does n’t make it the oldest ice core ever extracted — that recognition goes to a2.7 - million - class - old ice corerecovered in 2017 . What makes the Beyond EPICA core special is its continuous , mellow - result climate phonograph recording spanning 1.2 million long time , offering crucial insights into ancient atmospherical conditions and glacial cycle per second .
The ice core from the Beyond EPICA project.© Beyond EPICA project
“ We have cross off a historical moment for clime and environmental science , ” say Carlo Barbante of Ca ’ Foscari University of Venice , coordinator of Beyond EPICA . The Congress of Racial Equality was recall during the task ’s 4th south-polar campaign . “ This is the longest continuous phonograph recording of our past climate from an deoxyephedrine core , and it can reveal the interlink between the carbon wheel and temperature of our planet . ”
Between 900,000 and 1.2 million twelvemonth ago , glacial cycle shifted from hold out 41,000 years to 100,000 year — a shimmy known as the Mid - Pleistocene Transition . The Beyond EPICA project aims to well understand this ancient climate phenomenon .
lead by The Institute of Polar Sciences of the National Research Council of Italy ( ISP - CNR ) , the scientists worked for more than 200 days , drill into the ice and action the ice core at a remote site in East Antarctica called Little Dome C , with a bonkers average summer temperature of -31 degrees Fahrenheit ( -35 degrees Celsius ) .
The ice core from the Beyond EPICA project. © Beyond EPICA project.
“ From preliminary analyses recorded at Little Dome C , we have a strong indication that the uppermost 2,480 meters [ 1.54 miles ] contain a climate phonograph record that goes back to 1.2 million geezerhood in a high - resolution disk where up to 13,000 years are compressed into one metre of ice , ” say state Julien Westhoff , a postdoc at the University of Copenhagen and chief scientist in the field of honor for the EPICA project .
The deepest and oldest section of the substance , which were closest to the bedrock , are made of ancient Methedrine “ that is heavily deformed , possibly assorted or refrozen and of unknown origin , ” as well as rocks from the basics itself . This section could further scientist ’ understanding of refrozen ice under the Antarctic ice sheet , the glaciation history of this Antarctic realm , and the last time the continent was ice - free .
The labor still present significant hurdles , particularly the logistical challenge of transporting the segmented ice essence to a science laboratory without take chances melting .
“ The precious ice cores draw out during this safari will be carry back to Europe on board the iceboat Laura Bassi , maintaining the -50 ° coulomb [ -58 degree F ] cold chemical chain , ” said Gianluca Bianchi Fasani , head of the Italian National Agency for New Technologies , Energy , and Sustainable Economic Development ’s ( ENEA ) logistics for Beyond EPICA . “ To reach this end , a strategy was developed involving the designing of specialised dusty containers and precise programing of the National Antarctic Research Program ( PNRA ) air and naval assets . ”
Once the segmented ice heart and soul has find out its way to a ( very cold ) lab , it remains to be find what secrets researchers will unlock within the ancient climate record .
AntarcticaClimateice cores
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