Antarctica's oldest ice arrives in UK for analysis on climate shifts

Antarctica's oldest crystal has arrived successful the UK for investigation which scientists anticipation volition uncover much astir Earth's clime shifts.

The crystal was retrieved from depths of up to 2,800 metres astatine Little Dome C successful East Antarctica arsenic portion of an planetary effort to "unlock the deepest secrets of Antarctica's ice".

The crystal cores - cylindrical tubes of past crystal - volition beryllium analysed astatine the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) successful Cambridge, with the eventual extremity of reconstructing up to 1.5 cardinal years of Earth's climate history, importantly extending the existent crystal halfway grounds of 800,000 years.

The probe is besides expected to connection invaluable discourse for predicting aboriginal clime change, Dr Liz Thomas, caput of the crystal cores squad astatine the British Antarctic Survey, said.

Over the adjacent fewer years, the samples volition beryllium analysed by antithetic labs crossed Europe to summation knowing of Earth's clime improvement and greenhouse state concentrations.

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Dr Thomas said: "It's incredibly breathtaking to beryllium portion of this planetary effort to unlock the deepest secrets of Antarctica's ice.

"The task is driven by a cardinal technological question: wherefore did the planet's clime rhythm displacement astir 1 cardinal years agone from a 41,000-year to a 100,000-year phasing of glacial-interglacial cycles?

"By extending the crystal halfway grounds beyond this turning point, researchers anticipation to amended predictions of however Earth's clime whitethorn respond to aboriginal greenhouse state increases."

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The crystal was extracted arsenic portion of the Beyond EPICA - Oldest Ice project, which is funded by the European Commission and brings unneurotic researchers from 10 European countries and 12 institutions.

"Our information volition output the archetypal continuous reconstructions of cardinal biology indicators-including atmospheric temperatures, upwind patterns, oversea crystal extent, and marine productivity-spanning the past 1.5 cardinal years," Dr Thomas said.

"This unprecedented crystal halfway dataset volition supply captious insights into the nexus betwixt atmospheric CO₂ levels and clime during a antecedently uncharted play successful Earth's history, offering invaluable discourse for predicting aboriginal clime change."