Scientists working on the Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice project have successfully drilled nearly 2 miles (3,000 meters) into the East Antarctic ice sheet, specifically at a site called Little Dome C, to extract ancient ice cores.
The mission is part of an international effort to recover the oldest possible continuous record of Earth's climate, and this recent core is believed to be around 1.2 million years old.
Ice cores are natural time capsules containing air bubbles and particles trapped in ancient snowfall.
These records help scientists analyze greenhouse gas levels, temperature variations, and atmospheric conditions from Earth's distant past.
This drilling effort is essential for understanding the transition between the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (about 900,000 years ago), a key climatic shift in Earth's ice age cycles.
Previously, the oldest continuous ice core record was about 800,000 years old, recovered from Dome C in the early 2000s.
The new 1.2-million-year-old core marks a major step forward in paleoclimate research, potentially revealing what triggered the change in Earth's glacial rhythms.
The mission is part of an international effort to recover the oldest possible continuous record of Earth's climate, and this recent core is believed to be around 1.2 million years old.
Ice cores are natural time capsules containing air bubbles and particles trapped in ancient snowfall.
These records help scientists analyze greenhouse gas levels, temperature variations, and atmospheric conditions from Earth's distant past.
This drilling effort is essential for understanding the transition between the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (about 900,000 years ago), a key climatic shift in Earth's ice age cycles.
Previously, the oldest continuous ice core record was about 800,000 years old, recovered from Dome C in the early 2000s.
The new 1.2-million-year-old core marks a major step forward in paleoclimate research, potentially revealing what triggered the change in Earth's glacial rhythms.
Scientists working on the Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice project have successfully drilled nearly 2 miles (3,000 meters) into the East Antarctic ice sheet, specifically at a site called Little Dome C, to extract ancient ice cores.
The mission is part of an international effort to recover the oldest possible continuous record of Earth's climate, and this recent core is believed to be around 1.2 million years old.
Ice cores are natural time capsules containing air bubbles and particles trapped in ancient snowfall.
These records help scientists analyze greenhouse gas levels, temperature variations, and atmospheric conditions from Earth's distant past.
This drilling effort is essential for understanding the transition between the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (about 900,000 years ago), a key climatic shift in Earth's ice age cycles.
Previously, the oldest continuous ice core record was about 800,000 years old, recovered from Dome C in the early 2000s.
The new 1.2-million-year-old core marks a major step forward in paleoclimate research, potentially revealing what triggered the change in Earth's glacial rhythms.


