Drilling into climate secrets

A DRILLING exploration project into Antarctica’s oldest known ice core will unlock secrets of the past and inform knowledge of our climate’s future, researchers say.

Technicians are putting finishing touches to a 9m ice core drill that will be capable of eventually boring 3000m into the Antarctic ice cap.

Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley joined with Australian Antarctic Division representatives at Kingston yesterday to outline the plans.

Dr Tas van Ommen, senior principal research scientist with the AAD, said drilling into the Antarctic ice would reflect what the weather was like more than one million years ago.

“What we’re embarking upon over the next few years is to solve one of the last great problems in climate science,’’ he said. “To do that, we want to drill the oldest possible ice core in Antarctica.”

Dr van Ommen said a 9mlong drill was being built that would be able to penetrate to the bottom of the ice sheet.

The site is about 1200km inland from Casey Station.

“This will allow us to actually look at how the climate changed through that period and how, in particular, large changes in the climate system worked,’’ he said.

“We can then apply that knowledge to understanding how the climate is going to change in the future which is a key question for us.

“We can see in the ice tiny bubbles that are trapped between snowflakes in the ice as it gets buried. These tiny bubbles are time capsules of past atmosphere. We want to actually get that ice, analyse those time capsules and understand what CO2 did in particular through that period around a million years ago when the climate was changing.”

Dr van Ommen said preparations would take place in coming years before drilling begins in 2022. He said it could take up to four years to reach the bottom.

Ms Ley said the project was part of the Federal Government’s $45 million commitment to maintaining Australia’s place at the forefront of Antarctic science.