Expert lowers camera 93 meters into Antarctic hole, finds ice aged 20 lakh years

Experts researching ice in Antarctica have found ice slabs estimated to be around two million years old. This research is being carried out as part of the Center for Oldest Ice Exploration (COLDEX) project whose goal is to extend the existing ice core record (which only goes back 800,000 years) to 3 million years. Interestingly, the said moment of the historic exploration was caught on camera thanks to a researcher who lowered his camera down an 83 meter hole in the continent. A student lowered his camera 93 meters into the ground in Antarctica while collecting ice that's estimated to be over two million years old. pic.twitter.com/BI3Ycq63VP — H0W_THlNGS_W0RK (@HowThingsWork_) February 12, 2023 The video is said to have been made by Ph.D. student Austin Carter who is part of the research team collecting ice samples in Antarctica. As for COLDEX, it is run by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and was found in 2021 to explore Antarctica for the oldest possible ice core records of Earth's climate and environmental history. Why explore old ice samples? Exploring ancient ice samples, according to experts, is the closest thing to time travel in polar science when it comes to determining the level of climate change that has occurred over time. It is so because the older ice samples have air bubbles locked inside of them and they can help in understanding the change in carbon dioxide levels and how they changed surface temperatures, says Scientific American. Exploring ancient ice also helps measure the amount of greenhouse gas levels millions of years ago. In order to make these measurements, a new team of paleoclimatologists from Europe, Australia and the US have joined COLDEX and ventured to Antarctica. Until now, the record for the oldest ice discovered was confirmed in 2004 after analysing multiple layers of ice.

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Expert lowers camera 93 meters into Antarctic hole, finds ice aged 20 lakh years

Experts researching ice in Antarctica have found ice slabs estimated to be around two million years old. The moment of the discovery was caught on camera.

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