Media Release: Landmark Research Project Discovers more than 1.2-Million-Year-long Ice Core
Ice core provides the longest continuous climate record ever known
From a remote site in Antarctica, an international team of scientists, including Dr. Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, from the University of Manitoba (UM), has achieved a historic milestone. The team successfully drilled a 2,800-meter-long ice core, reaching bedrock beneath the Antarctic ice sheet and uncovering the longest continuous ice core record of past climate at more than 1.2 million-years-old.
“This achievement is monumental for climate and environmental science,” said Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Arctic Sea Ice, Freshwater-Marine Coupling and Climate Change at the University of Manitoba and Villum Investigator at Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen. “The ice core provides the longest continuous climate record known, and we hope it will help us understand the connections between Earth’s carbon cycle and temperature changes throughout history.”
The ice core is poised to reveal invaluable insights into the planet’s past climate patterns, which are believed to be linked to greenhouse gases preserved in the air bubbles trapped within the ice. This breakthrough offers an unprecedented opportunity to explore Earth’s climate and atmospheric history, including the relationship between temperature and greenhouse gases during the most distant periods of the ice age.
“The success of this drilling campaign far exceeded our expectations,” said Dahl-Jensen. “We are eager to begin extracting the detailed climate information stored in these ice cores, collaborating with the broader team of scientists to unlock this crucial data.”
The research project was made possible by the collaboration of scientific and logistical teams from across Europe. The project is funded by the European Commission, with support from national partners across Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
To learn more about Beyond EPICA Oldest Ice project, visit the project website.
Media Resources
Photo and videos of the field teams and ice core can be accessed on this drive.
More photos can also be found on the Beyond EPICA Field Seasons Gallery.
For more information, contact mediarelations@umanitoba.ca