Bremerhaven unravels climate puzzles with 1.2 million year old ice

Bremerhaven unravels climate puzzles with 1.2 million year old ice

An international research team has discovered an ice core in Antarctica that could reveal the climatic secrets of the last 1.2 million years. The ice core, which is about one meter long and as thick as a clenched fist, contains a veritable treasure trove of 20,000 years of earth's history. It was found in a glacier at a depth of 2,800 meters and is now being carefully examined at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in Bremerhaven. Loud NWZonline The ice core provides exciting insights into past climate changes, especially into the mysterious transition from ice ages to warmer phases.

What is interesting is that the rhythm of climatic changes changed fundamentally around 900,000 to 1.2 million years ago. While the team from Bremerhaven wants to shed more light on the role of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the ice laboratory is an important hub for this research. Here, at a frosty minus 30 degrees, intensive work is carried out thanks to the sound of sawing fresh ice. Up to ten scientists are trying to decipher the crazy weather events of the past together. The work is carried out as a team - after all, the scientists have different national backgrounds, united in their common goal.

Investigation of the climate diary

The ice core is not just a simple block of ice, it is a chronological climate archive that holds important clues about global warming and climate change. One centimeter of the core corresponds to around 200 years of climate history. These ice samples are cylindrical and have a diameter of 10 to 15 cm. The team plans to obtain around 100,000 subsamples from the ice core, which will then be distributed to 12 scientific institutes in Europe. A comprehensive analysis of the trapped air bubbles makes it possible to reconstruct the chemical composition of the atmosphere in the past. Focus reports that numerous tests are being carried out in the ice laboratory, including electrical conductivity and dust deposits, in order to find out more about the circumstances at the time.

Since the climate tables go back over 800,000 years, the ice cores provide not only historians but also climate researchers with valuable information about the changing environment. Analyzes have repeatedly shown that phenomena such as volcanic eruptions, meteorite impacts and even human activities leave traces in the ice that are worth studying in detail. World Ocean Review shows that measuring air bubbles in the ice cores allows direct conclusions to be drawn about the atmospheric composition in different geological eras.

The work in the ice laboratory is crucial because it involves better understanding the climate system and developing more precise climate models. Thanks to these international collaborations and the high technology used in research, scientists are ideally equipped to meet the challenges of climate research.