Official announcements from the Beyond Epica - Oldest Ice project or involved research institutions

EU-Funded Team Extracts 1.2-Million-Year Antarctic Ice Core at 2.8 km Depth

Jan 9, 2025, 07:30 AM

Scientists have successfully extracted the oldest ice core ever recorded, dating back 1.2 million years, from Antarctica. This achievement, part of the EU-funded Beyond Epica - Oldest Ice project, was led by the Italian Institute of Polar Sciences and involved researchers from 10 European nations. The ice core, drilled to a depth of 2.8 kilometers at the Little Dome C site on the Antarctic plateau at an elevation of 3,200 meters, provides a continuous climate record that extends 400,000 years further back than previous cores. The research aims to uncover insights into the Mid-Pleistocene Transition, a period when glacial cycles shifted from 41,000-year to 100,000-year intervals, a phenomenon still not fully understood. The core contains ancient air bubbles, particles, and ash layers that will help scientists study greenhouse gas levels and temperature variations over millennia. The project faced extreme conditions, including temperatures of -35°C, and required over 200 days of drilling across four Antarctic summers. The ice core will be transported to Bremerhaven, Germany, and distributed among European laboratories for detailed analysis, offering critical data to understand past climate changes and their implications for the future.