Antarctica: A quest to seek out world’s oldest ice

A three-year, 2.2 million euro European project to decipher the history of Earth’s climate

Glaciologists and climatologists from ten European countries are attempting to discover the oldest ice on earth. The objective is seeking a location where they can drill a frozen core that can go back in the history of the planet. This time archive will be used to reconstruct ancient climate conditions, to provide more accurate future predictions.  Funded by the European Commission with 2.2 million euro, the project “Beyond EPICA- Oldest Ice” (BE-OI) is coordinated by the German Institute Alfred Wegener- Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (Awi).

Italy is involved in the project under the National Antarctic Research Programme (Pnra), funded by the Ministry of Education, University and Research (Miur) and is represented in the Consortium by the National Agency for New technologies, Energy and a Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) and the University of Bologna. Scientists from the Universities of Venice Cà Foscari, Florence and  Milano-Bicocca, the Institute for the Dynamic of Environmental Processes of the National Research Council (Idpa-Cnr) and the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology (Ingv) will contribute to the mission.

Finding a 1.5 million-year-old ice core is the objective of “Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice” (BE-OI). To get an idea, the current oldest ice core goes back 800,000 years. The ice cores contain tiny bubbles of air dating back to their formation. By analyzing the air molecules it’s possible to figure out the characteristics of the atmosphere of the past.

“What’s still unclear is the reason why the cycle of glacial and inter-glacial periods changed between 900 thousand and 1.2 million years ago“, Carlo Barbante, Professor at the University Cà Foscari and Director of the Idpa-Cnr, explained.

Before the so called mid-Pleistocene transition, glacial and inter-glacial periods alternated approximately every 400 thousand years. Conversely, since then each period lasted approximately 100 thousand years. This knowledge derives  from the analysis of sediment samples, which  don’t contain information about gases in the atmosphere.

“We cannot investigate the role of greenhouse gases because we don’t have suitable samples, since the only geological archives where we can find the chemical composition of the atmosphere are ice cores” Barbara Stenni, Professor at the University of Venice Cà Foscari, said.

The objective of the project BE-OI is to fill this gap with geophysical measurements, rapid drilling technologies and age determination of ice on site. Furthermore, drilling technologies will be additionally developed and tested. The first fieldwork will start soon: in Antarctica, glaciologist Massimo Frezzotti (ENEA) and geophysics Stefano Urbini (Ingy) and Luca Vittuari (Bologna University), along with colleagues from other institutes involved in the project, will analyze the ice thickness, its physical features and the bedrock topography in two different sites, both from an airplane and on the ground. The thickness of the ice sheet is only a first indicator of past ice since snow accumulation and ice flow behavior determine how old the ice sheet is.

During the ground program the scientists will concurrently measure snow accumulation, ice dynamics and employ novel technologies to drill boreholes and determine temperatures.

“During previous studies we identified key areas where we expect the oldest ice archive on Earth can be found- Professor Olaf Eisen (Alfred Wegener Institute), project coordinator, said – Now we have to prove this and it’s important that we learn as much as possible about deposition processes and ice dynamics”.

In addition to these scientific quests, the project has the objective of  bringing together the technological and scientific expertise to carry out this deep core ice drilling project, coordinate  the technical and scientific planning and establish the budget and funding. In order to ensure the highest scientific impact, the widest European scientific communities dedicated to paleoclimate and the study of climate models will be involved.

The project

The Consortium Beyond-EPICA Oldest Ice (BE-OI) and its international partners present a concentration of scientific expertise and infrastructures for ice cores analysis unique at global level. BE-OI is a Coordination and Support Action. It provides the scientific, technological and financial basis for the challenge of drilling ice cores up to 1.5 million years old in a future project.

BE-OI is the European contribution to the global search for a location where to extract a deep frozen core. The consortium takes into account the pre-site surveys in the Dome-C area around the French-Italian base Concordia and Dome Fuji, both potentially appropriate regions in East Antarctica. Other consortia will examine other areas under the umbrella of the International Partnership in Ice Core Sciences. It will be an important contribution to the future exploration of  Antarctica and promises significant insights on climate and global carbon fluxes. This new knowledge will improve future projections on climate evolution with reliable quantitative data and allow to draw up targeted strategies to face the societal challenges posed by global change.

Members of the Consortium:

• Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (Awi, Germany), Coordinator
• Institut Polaire Français Paul Émile Victor (Ipev, France)
• ENEA – National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and a Sustainable  Economic Development (Italy)
• Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Cnrs, France)
• Natural Environment Research Council - British Antarctic Survey (Great Britain)
• Universiteit Utrecht – Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (Holland)
• Norwegian Polar Institute (Norway)
• Stockholms Universitet (Sweden)
• Universität Bern (Switzerland)
• University of Bologna (Italy)
• University of Cambridge (Great Britain)
• Kobenhavns Universitet (Denmark)
• Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium)
• Lunds Universitet (Sweden)

Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice

Glaciologists and climatologists from ten European  countries  are seeking in Antarctica  the Earth’s oldest ice. They are looking for a location where they can drill a frozen core that goes furthest back in Earth’s history. The ice core will provide us a climate record of the past to improve future climate predictions.

“Beyond EPICA-Oldest Ice (BE-OI) is funded by the EU Program for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 with project agreement number 730258. The project, lasting from October 2016 to September 2019, will bring together experts of 14 Institutions from ten European countries, coordinated by the German Institute Alfred Wegener, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research. Italy, present in the Consortium with ENEA and the Universityof Bologna, is represented by scientists from the University Cà Foscari in Venice, the Florence and Milano-Bicocca Universities, the Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes of the National Research Council (Idpa-Cnr) and the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology (Ingv)

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