The oldest ice ever extracted from Antarctica is on its way to Europe, marking a major milestone in climate science. The ice cores, obtained through the Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice project, are currently being transported aboard the research vessel Laura Bassi.
Funded by the European Commission and coordinated by the Institute of Polar Sciences of the National Research Council of Italy (Cnr-Isp), the project aims to unlock crucial insights into Earth's past climate and atmospheric conditions dating back over 1.2 million years.
The ice cores were retrieved from Little Dome C, Antarctica, during the fourth drilling campaign of the international Beyond EPICA project. Over a three-month period, a team of scientists and logistical experts from twelve research institutions across ten European nations worked in extreme conditions-3,200 meters above sea level with an average summer temperature of -35°C. Their efforts culminated in drilling to a depth of 2,800 meters, reaching the Antarctic ice sheet's bedrock.
Stored in specialized containers at -50°C, the ice cores are expected to arrive in Italy, specifically in Ravenna, on 16 April. From there, they will continue their journey to the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in Bremerhaven, Germany, where they will be processed and sectioned. The samples will then be distributed to European research laboratories, including BAS, with analyses set to begin in the autumn. Scientists anticipate uncovering key data on past atmospheric temperatures and greenhouse gas levels, potentially extending climate records beyond 1.2 million years.
Carlo Barbante, professor at Ca' Foscari University of Venice and Beyond EPICA coordinator, highlighted the significance of the achievement:
"A remarkable milestone was reached during the last drilling season. In the last few days, we have planned future analyses that will reveal climate history over the past 1.2 million years-and possibly even further back. We eagerly await the arrival of these samples."
British Antarctic Survey (BAS) ice core scientist Dr Robert Mulvaney, who was part of the site selection survey work, said:
"It's nearly 10 years since BAS first deployed its radar to the Little Dome C region to help locate the Beyond EPICA drilling site, and finally the 'oldest ice' section is making its way to BAS for analysis this summer. A section along the length of the ice core, 35 x 35 mm in dimensions, will be cut from the core in the AWI cold rooms in Bremerhaven in the early summer, and transported to Cambridge. We will analyse ice in the BAS laboratory spanning the range 2400 to 2507 m depth, which we believe ranges in age from 700 thousand to 1.2 million years.
"If time allows, we will also analyse a further section from 2507 to 2584m that might extend the age range back to 1.5 million years. BAS specialises in analysing the soluble impurities in the ice, and others will join us with their instruments in our laboratory to measure the water isotopes and the dust components. The greenhouse gases trapped in air bubbles in the ice will be measured in Copenhagen on a similar section of ice. Taken together, the analyses will reveal the Earth's climate and atmosphere during the period 1.5 to 0.7 million years ago, a period when the earth's glacial cycle was changing from a periodicity of 41,000 years to 100,000 years."
Beyond EPICA is a European Commission-funded initiative supported by national partners and agencies in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The project aims to enhance our understanding of Earth's climate history and provide critical data for predicting future climate trends.
As these ancient ice samples make their way to European laboratories, the scientific community anticipates groundbreaking discoveries that could reshape our understanding of climate change and its long-term impact on the planet.
To learn more about Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice project: https://www.beyondepica.eu/en/
