Frozen in time: Antarctic ice cave to be used to save melting glacier samples

Original article by David Hambling

Last month the Ice Memory Foundation opened the first ever sanctuary for mountain ice cores in Antarctica, where samples will be stored for centuries to come.

The cores, typically 10cm in diameter and a metre or more long, are stored in a specially excavated ice cave. The first to be laid down came from two Alpine glaciers that are rapidly shrinking.

The samples were transported by sea, arriving at Concordia station, a joint French-Italian base high on the Antarctic plateau, after a 50-day journey. The average temperature at Concordia is -52C, with a daily maximum in January of -12C. It is even colder inside the ice cave, which is not warmed by the sun.

The Ice Memory Foundation aims to collect, save and manage ice cores from disappearing glaciers, preserving the information they contain for generations to come. Ice cores, which record thousands of years of history, contain tiny bubbles of atmosphere from the past, showing the changes over the centuries. They also have traces of pollen, showing how plant life shifts, and can reveal events such as the surge in lead pollution during the Roman empire.

As the climate crisis intensifies and glaciers recede, scientists are rushing to gather cores from endangered glaciers worldwide and store them safely in the ice sanctuary before it is too late.