Overview

• The 2.8 km ice core drilled at Little Dome C in East Antarctica doubles the continuous ice record to 1.5 million years of Earth’s climate history.
• Researchers led by Liz Thomas have commenced Continuous Flow Analysis to melt the core and capture trapped air bubbles for high-precision greenhouse gas measurements.
• Partner laboratories across Europe will perform chemical and isotopic assays on meltwater to reconstruct past temperatures, wind patterns and sea ice extent.
• Funded by the European Commission’s Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice project, the effort unites 12 institutions in 10 countries for drilling, transport and analysis.
• Data from the continuous core record will inform climate models by revealing how glacial-interglacial cycles and atmospheric compositions evolved over the Mid-Pleistocene Transition.