Overview

• Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice’s 2,800-metre core from Little Dome C doubles the existing ice record back to 1.5 million years.
• The ice core arrived on July 19 in Cambridge, marking the start of detailed laboratory studies under strict cold-chain protocols.
• Continuous Flow Analysis at BAS will melt the core slowly to release and measure trapped air bubbles for greenhouse gas and temperature proxies.
• Complementary analyses are slated at 12 institutions across 10 European countries as part of the European Commission-funded project.
• Researchers aim to decipher drivers of the Mid-Pleistocene Transition and calibrate climate models against natural variability.