1st Dec 2022 - Beyond Epica deep drilling campaign begins in Antarctica
The Little Dome C site in Antarctica has reopened for the second ice core drilling campaign of the international research project coordinated by the Institute of Polar Sciences of the CNR (National Research Council of Italy). By analysing the ice cores extracted from the deep ice in Antarctica, the project aims to obtain information dating back to 1.5 million years ago, regarding the evolution of temperature, the composition of the atmosphere, and the carbon cycle. The team includes 15 people and aims to start deep drilling to reach depths of a few hundred metres
Beyond EPICA: a storytelling - 6
Come with us to Little Dome C!
What do you need to bring with you? Apparently, just a few things: your polar suit, lots of warm clothes, a good video camera and your personal belongings.
Well, the reality is quite different! Materials and equipment for the Antarctic project leave Europe long before the arrival of the team: before summer starts, everything must be ready to be sent to Antarctica.
This exceptional transportation is ensured by the work of our logistics partners, IPEV and ENEA, which organize everything down to the last detail. The first step of the transportation is to get closer to Antarctica, and there are two main cities that are a safe basis for our logistic partners, ENEA and IPEV: Hobart, in Tasmania, and Christchurch, in New Zealand. The next stop will be Mario Zucchelli Station, the Italian base in Antarctica, or Dumont D’Urville, the French station. The final destination for all the material will be the same: Little Dome C, just a few kilometers from the Italian-French station Concordia.
The total amount of kilometers covered is about 17.000 (seventeen thousand) and the time spent to organize and carry out this journey will be enormous.
Things have already been sent to Antarctica for the next drilling campaign, which will start soon! Keep following the Beyond EPICA adventure to stay updated!
⇒ Interview: Armand Patoir - the traverses.
Beyond EPICA: a storytelling - 5
The most precious thing in Antarctica for Beyond EPICA is the ice. Our goal to retrieve an ice core is deeply connected with the idea of the history of our climate: ice is what we will use as a history book. Every climate episode, temperature change, and other events are in the ice, as they were written in a book: we only need to read it.
⇒ Interview: Thomas Stocker - Ice cores: what can they bring
⇒ Interview: Massimo Frezzotti - glaciers and Antarctica
