Antarctica’s oldest ice has arrived within the UK for evaluation which scientists hope will reveal extra about Earth’s local weather shifts.
The ice was retrieved from depths of as much as 2,800 metres at Little Dome C in East Antarctica as a part of a global effort to “unlock the deepest secrets of Antarctica’s ice”.
The ice cores – cylindrical tubes of historical ice – might be analysed on the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in Cambridge, with the last word objective of reconstructing as much as 1.5 million years of Earth’s local weather historical past, considerably extending the present ice core document of 800,000 years.
The analysis can also be anticipated to supply beneficial context for predicting future local weather change, Dr Liz Thomas, head of the ice cores workforce on the British Antarctic Survey, mentioned.
Over the subsequent few years, the samples might be analysed by completely different labs throughout Europe to achieve understanding of Earth’s local weather evolution and greenhouse fuel concentrations.
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Dr Thomas mentioned: “It’s incredibly exciting to be part of this international effort to unlock the deepest secrets of Antarctica’s ice.
“The venture is pushed by a central scientific query: why did the planet’s local weather cycle shift roughly a million years in the past from a 41,000-year to a 100,000-year phasing of glacial-interglacial cycles?
“By extending the ice core record beyond this turning point, researchers hope to improve predictions of how Earth’s climate may respond to future greenhouse gas increases.”
The ice was extracted as a part of the Past EPICA – Oldest Ice venture, which is funded by the European Fee and brings collectively researchers from 10 European international locations and 12 establishments.
“Our data will yield the first continuous reconstructions of key environmental indicators-including atmospheric temperatures, wind patterns, sea ice extent, and marine productivity-spanning the past 1.5 million years,” Dr Thomas mentioned.
“This unprecedented ice core dataset will provide vital insights into the link between atmospheric CO₂ levels and climate during a previously uncharted period in Earth’s history, offering valuable context for predicting future climate change.”
