166 Race for the Oldest Ice
Channel: Curiously Polar
Date: 2023-03-14

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**POLAR NEWSREEL**

**01 Life at the bottom of the Southern Ocean:** The team of the icebreaker [RRS Sir David Attenborough](https://www.bas.ac.uk/polar-operations/sites-and-facilities/facility/rrs-sir-david-attenborough/) has been [testing the new deep sea research capabilities](https://twitter.com/BAS_News/status/1633755334178119683?lang=ar-x-fm) in the 5.6 km (3.5 mi) deep and least explored parts of [the Southern Ocean](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/theres-a-new-ocean-now-can-you-name-all-five-southern-ocean), the [Hesperides Deep](https://books.google.ro/books?id=yJ3nCAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA273&ots=MUa8yMNL3D&dq=Hesperides%20Deep&pg=PA273#v=onepage&q=Hesperides%20Deep&f=false), unveiling [incredible lifeforms](https://twitter.com/BAS_News/status/1633756316949725185) at the bottom of the sea. | **02 New interactive Antarctic mapping tool:** The [Australian Antarctic Division](https://www.antarctica.gov.au) developed the amazing [interactive mapping tool, Nilas](https://nilas.org) to to [assist voyage planning and enhance climate research in the sea ice zone](http://aappartnership.org.au/new-antarctic-map-builds-on-forty-years-of-sea-ice-data/).

**RACE FOR THE OLDEST ICE**
A [global race](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/inside-the-race-to-find-earths-oldest-ice/) is on to drill for the oldest known layers of Antarctic ice, so researchers can peek back in time to better understand the planet’s hotter future. Picking up from the [record-breaking 2017 Allan Hills ice core](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1692-3), that unearthed ice [dating back 2.7 million years](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-find-27-million-year-old-ice-core-antarctica-180964566/), the [US team](https://coldex.org) returns to the site and aims to [fill the gaps in the climate records](https://coldex.org/research). At the same time, the European project [Beyond EPICA](https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/815384) aims at [obtaining ice cores, which are expected to provide continuous high-resolution climatic data up to 1.5 million years old](https://www.beyondepica.eu/en/about/) at a site less than 40 km away from the Italo-French [Concordia station](http://www.concordiastation.aq/home-1/) at [Little Dome C](http://www.energyglobalnews.com/drilling-of-oldest-ice-on-earth-completed-at-little-dome-c-in-antarctica/). End of January 2023, the team reached an important milestone and [successfully completed](https://polarjournal.ch/en/2022/02/18/successful-first-stage-in-search-for-oldest-ice/) the first ice core drilling campaign [at a depth of 808 metres](https://www.beyondepica.eu/en/news-events/press-releases/). Only five kilometres away from the European drilling site, the Australian Antarctic Division is making camp for their [Million Year Ice Core](https://www.antarctica.gov.au/science/climate-processes-and-change/antarctic-palaeoclimate/million-year-ice-core/) project. To do so, the Australian team is [mastering an incredible logistical challenge](https://www.antarctica.gov.au/science/climate-processes-and-change/antarctic-palaeoclimate/inland-traverse/) and [traverses the East Antarctic Ice Sheet](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/27/the-million-year-ice-project-the-quest-to-find-the-oldest-ice-on-earth) from the coastal [Casey Station](https://www.antarctica.gov.au/antarctic-operations/webcams/casey/) to the inland camp at the drilling site - and [back](https://twitter.com/MillionYearIce/status/1624284384814845952). Lotter Kock, the Technical Lead for the Ice Drill System, [tells his story on ABC Radio Hobart](https://www.abc.net.au/hobart/programs/your-afternoon/lotter/102075604), certainly worth listening.

Check out Henry's article [*"Deep Freeze: Ice Core Dril…