European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica
The European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) is a multinational European project for deep ice core drilling in Antarctica. Its main objective is to obtain full documentation of the climatic and atmospheric record archived in Antarctic ice by drilling and analyzing two ice cores and comparing these with their Greenland counterparts (GRIP and GISP). Evaluation of these records will provide information about the natural climate variability and mechanisms of rapid climatic changes during the last glacial epoch.
End of the EDML ice core from a depth 2775 m; consists of meltwater which has formed at the basis of the ice sheet; the core was drilled 2002-2004 through the Antarctic ice sheet in the area of Dronning Maud Land by the project EPICA
An ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet or a high mountain glacier. Since the ice forms from the incremental buildup of annual layers of snow, lower layers are older than upper ones, and an ice core contains ice formed over a range of years. Cores are drilled with hand augers or powered drills; they can reach depths of over two miles (3.2 km), and contain ice up to 800,000 years old.
Ice core sample taken from drill
Mechanical drill head, showing cutting teeth
Sawing the GRIP core
Bubbles in an Antarctic ice sample. Illuminated with polarised light
