An international team of scientists has reached sediments 228 meters deep beneath the Antarctic ice sheet: the study of the sediment cores will allow us to understand the climatic variations of millions of years ago to develop increasingly complete projections on the future climate.
The project was recently completed in Antarctica. Record drilling at Crary Ice Rice site, a remote camp set up on the ice 700 kilometres away from the nearest base, New Zealand's Scott Base overlooking the Ross Sea.
The scientific enterprise, which involved a international team of researchers, engineers and drillers from ten countries (New Zealand, United States, Germany, Australia, Japan, Spain, Republic of Korea, Netherlands, United Kingdom and Italy), was conducted under the SWAIS2C project (Sensitivity of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to 2°C).
The SWAIS2C project aims to determine whether the Ross Platform (Ross Ice Shelf) and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS - West Antarctic Ice Sheet) can melt as a consequence of the projected increase in global average temperatures of +2°C compared to the pre-industrial era.
Despite the extreme environmental conditions, the recently completed drilling has allowed us to reach the depth of 228 meters (exceeding the expedition's initial objective by 28 meters), identifying sediments dating back millions of years which hold crucial information about the fate of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
This vast ice sheet is protected, on one side, by the Ross Ice Shelf, the largest floating ice sheet in the world, which is progressively weakening due to global warming: if the Ross Ice Shelf were to melt, it would trigger a cascade of melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which, in turn, would lead to a sea level rise of 4 or 5 meters.
The challenge of the SWAIS2C project, funded under the ICDP programme (International Continental Drilling Program) with the contribution of each participating nation, is to provide direct geological evidence of the tipping points of global temperature, that is of the "point of no return" beyond which the increase in temperature could trigger the irreversible melting of the Platform.
"The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) is at the forefront of SWAIS2C governance. as far as Italy is concerned”, explains the President of the INGV Fabio Florindo. “Furthermore, Institute staff participate in the scientific study of the sediment core recovered from the Crary Ice Rise, making their expertise in chronostratigraphy, volcanology, petrology, and paleomagnetism available to the team of over 120 scientists.”.
In addition to the INGV, the Italian bodies involved in the Project are theNational Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics (OGS) and Universities of Siena, Trieste and Genoa.
Link to the SWAIS2C YouTube channel with animation of the drilling at the Crary Ice Rise.
Useful links:
National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV)
National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics (OGS)
Image: The SWAIS2C project drilling site. ©SWAIS2C