Scientists drill deep in Antarctic ice for clues to climate change
Channel: UW (University of Washington)
Date: 2020-12-08

Scientists hope to understand the last time the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapsed by studying the ice deep in the glacier that was formed thousands of years ago. The chemistry of ice and air bubbles trapped in the ice layers can tell of past conditions. By pulling out samples from deep in the ice, these 'ice cores' are examined to gauge Antarctica's potential risk in today’s warming climate. 

The drilling site at Hercules Dome, Antartica has ice layers that reach back to Eemian times — the most recent period that, like now, was between ice ages. The Eemian was even warmer than today’s climate and oceans were higher.  

Hercules Dome is hundreds of miles from the ocean, but may have been waterfront property in warmer times 125,000 years ago according to project leader Eric Steig, a UW professor of Earth and space sciences. Researchers should be able to determine this from the chemistry of the ice — for example, the salt concentration may be higher if there was once open water close by. Understanding this will help guide projections of how much the sea levels may rise due to climate change, and how quickly.

Gemma O'Connor is a graduate student in the UW department of Earth and space sciences who was part of a team in 2019 that did a radar survey of the ice sheet to determine the future drilling location, which is planned for 2024.

Read more about the project here: https://www.washington.edu/news/2020/12/08/hercules-dome-ice-core/