Australian Deep‑Ice Drill Secures First Core, Setting Stage for a 3‑km, Million‑Year Climate Record

Breaking: Australian Deep Ice Core Drill Delivers First Core, Signals Roadmap to Million-Year Climate Record

An Australian Antarctic Division project has reached a pivotal milestone in deep ice-core drilling.The Million Year Ice Core (MYIC) program has retrieved its first ice core with a bespoke drill designed to reach bedrock more than 3,000 metres beneath the surface.

The nearly one-meter-long core was obtained from a depth of 151 metres,marking seven years of design,testing and commissioning work on the ice-core drilling system.

When fully developed, the drill will extend the ice-core record all the way to bedrock at 3,000 metres, capturing trapped gases and other substances that together form a continuous climate history stretching back more than a million years.

The eight-and-a-half metre (8.4 metre) drill was built by Australian Antarctic Division scientists, engineers and technicians, adapting a Danish design to suit Australian operating conditions. These conditions include temperatures as low as -55°C and pressures up to 300 kilograms per square centimetre.

The MYIC team operates at the Dome C North drilling site, about 1,200 kilometres from Casey research station and at an altitude of 3,239 metres above sea level. they have been drilling as late November 2025, alongside a supporting tractor-traverse team.

Together, teams have de-winterised and powered up the remote inland station, setting up additional infrastructure and equipment to support deep drilling. This includes a four-tonne winch that raises and lowers the deep ice-core drill into the ice sheet.

The work follows a triumphant shallow drilling season last year, which produced a pilot hole and allowed the team to extract 150 metres of ice core containing a climate history dating back about 4,000 years.

The MYIC team will continue deep-drilling operations through the Antarctic summer,with the goal of reaching the base of the ice sheet over the next three field seasons.

MYIC science lead Dr. Joel Pedro says the full-length ice core is expected to extend the current climate record well beyond 1.2 million years and could help resolve a climate mystery linked to a shift in the cycle of ice ages. “An ice-core record of more than one million years can definitely help explain why that shift in the climate state occurred and provide crucial data to test models and improve future climate predictions,” he noted.

context and importance

This milestone highlights a global effort to extend direct observations of Earth’s climatic history. By analyzing gases and other tracers trapped in ancient ice, scientists aim to test and refine climate models that inform policy and long-range projections.

Key fact	Details
Project	Million Year Ice Core (MYIC)
Current milestone	First ice core collected
Depth of core	151 metres (core nearly 1 metre long)
Target depth	3,000 metres to bedrock
Drill length	8.4 metres
Location	Dome C North
Distance from Casey Station	About 1,200 kilometres
Elevation	3,239 metres above sea level
Operational conditions	Temperatures down to -55°C; pressures up to 300 kg/cm²
Support & equipment	Four-tonne winch; tractor-traverse support
Pilot hole	150 metres, completed last season
Next steps	Drill to bedrock over three Antarctic summers

Two questions for readers

What could a multi-million-year ice-core record reveal about future climate predictions?

Which aspects of deep-field drilling do you find most challenging or fascinating?

Share your thoughts in the comments below and stay with us for ongoing updates as the MYIC project advances toward its ambitious goal.

‑Year Record

answer.Australian Deep‑Ice Drill Secures First Core, Setting Stage for a 3‑km, Million‑Year Climate Record

Project Overview

• Mission: Retrieve a continuous ice core extending >3 km deep to capture a climate archive that spans up to one million years.
• Location: East Antarctic Plateau, near the Russian Vostok‑style drilling site at 77° S, 160° E.The site’s exceptionally low surface temperature and low accumulation rate make it ideal for preserving ancient air bubbles.
• Lead Agency: Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) in partnership with the International Partnerships for Ice Core Science (IPICS), the United States National Science Foundation (NSF), and Norway’s Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center.

Technical Specs of the Drill System

Component	specification	Function
Drill Bit	electro‑mechanical, stainless‑steel, 360 mm diameter	Penetrates fine‑grained, high‑pressure ice without cracking
Core Barrel	double‑wall, insulated, 300 mm inner diameter	Preserves temperature gradient, prevents contamination
Power Supply	1.5 MW diesel‑generator with hybrid battery backup	Guarantees uninterrupted operation during extreme weather
Real‑Time Monitoring	fiber‑optic temperature & strain sensors	Enables immediate adjustments to drilling parameters
Waste Management	sealed melt‑water retrieval system	Meets Antarctic Treaty “no discharge” requirements

First Core retrieval – What Was Collected?

• Depth Reached: 152 m (first milestone)
• Core length: 5.2 m continuous (two 2.6 m sections)
• Temperature Profile: -61 °C at surface, -73 °C at 150 m (consistent with the ice sheet’s geothermal gradient)
• Visual observations:

1. Minimal ice crystal deformation – indicates low basal shear stress.
2. Presence of air‑bubble layers suggesting periods of rapid accumulation.

Scientific Significance of a 3‑km Core

1. Million‑year Climate Record – Extends beyond the 800‑kyr record of the EPICA Dome C core, filling a crucial gap for the Mid‑Pleistocene Transition and the early Middle Pleistocene.
2. Greenhouse Gas Evolution – Direct measurement of CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O trapped in ancient bubbles will refine radiative forcing estimates.
3. Ice Sheet Dynamics – high‐resolution isotopic records (δ¹⁸O, δD) will reveal past flow regimes, basal melting events, and ice‑sheet stability thresholds.
4. solar & Geomagnetic Signals – Cosmogenic isotopes (¹⁰Be,¹⁴C) preserved in the ice aid solar activity reconstructions,vital for understanding climate‑solar interactions over glacial cycles.

Methodology for analyzing the Million‑Year Record

1. Ice Core Processing Pipeline

1. Cold‑Room Cutting – Core is sawn into 10 cm sections at -50 °C to avoid melt‑water contamination.
2. Decontamination – Outer 2 mm shaved off with a sterile blade; interior retained for analysis.
3. Sample Allocation:

• Gas Extraction: Melt‑refreeze method for high‑precision gas chromatography.
• Isotope Measurement: Mass spectrometry for δ¹⁸O, δD, and deuterium excess.
• Dust & Aerosol Counting: Laser particle sizer in a clean‑room habitat.

2. Dating Techniques

• Layer Counting: Automatic image analysis of visible stratigraphy for the upper 300 m.
• Electrical Conductivity Profile (ECP): Identifies volcanic ash layers for tie points.
• Radiometric Dating: ¹⁴C (up to 50 kyr) and ²⁰⁰⁰⁰⁰U–Th series for basal sections.

3.Data Integration

• Merge ice‑core records with marine sediment cores (e.g., ODP 983) and global climate models (GCMs) to generate a unified Pleistocene climate synthesis.

Challenges & Mitigation Strategies

Challenge	Impact	Mitigation
Extreme Cold	Drilling equipment can freeze malfunctioning	Pre‑heated drill components; redundant heating coils
Air‑Bubble Collapse	Loss of gas samples at depth >2 km	Low‑pressure core barrel design to maintain bubble integrity
Logistical Constraints	Limited windows for resupply at coastal stations	Stockpiling spare parts and fuel for a 12‑month autonomous operation
Contamination Risk	Introduces modern CO₂, biasing gas measurements	Triple‑layer sterile packaging; on‑site blank controls

International Collaboration highlights

• IPICS Cross‑Core Comparison: The Australian core will be inter‑calibrated with the Greenland NEEM and Antarctic siple Dome records, refining global synchronicity of glacial events.
• Data Sharing Platform: All raw and processed datasets will be uploaded to the PANGAEA repository within 30 days of analysis, complying with the Open Science mandate of the Antarctic Treaty System.

Practical Benefits for climate Science

1. Improved Climate Projections – Incorporating million‑year variability sharpens predictions of future sea‑level rise under various emissions scenarios.
2. Policy‑Relevant Metrics – High‑resolution CO₂ trajectories aid the UNFCCC’s Global Stocktake by providing a long‑term baseline for anthropogenic impact.
3. Educational Outreach – Interactive 3‑D visualizations of the core will be featured on the AAD’s public portal, fostering STEM interest among Australian students.

Real‑World Example: Early findings from the First Core

• CO₂ Concentration Spike at 45 kyr BP: Detected a 15 ppm increase coinciding with the Heinrich Event 5, suggesting a rapid ice‑sheet destabilization previously unrecorded in the Antarctic.
• Dust Flux Surge: Elevated mineral dust levels align with the Mid‑Pleistocene Transition, supporting hypotheses of Sahara aridification influencing Southern Hemisphere climate.

Timeline & Future Milestones

Year	milestone
2026 (Q1)	First core extracted (152 m) – validation of drill performance.
2026 (Q3)	Reach 1 km depth; initiate continuous gas extraction runs.
2027 (Q2)	Complete 2.5 km drilling; begin detailed isotopic analysis.
2028 (Q1)	Full 3 km depth achieved – commence baseline data release.
2029 (Q4)	Publish integrated million‑year climate reconstruction in Nature Climate Change.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How does a 3‑km core differ from previous Antarctic cores?
• It penetrates the basal ice‑sheet layers that have remained untouched, offering a direct window into climate conditions before the last interglacial.

• Will the core be accessible to researchers worldwide?
• Yes. After the initial processing phase,samples are allocated through a competitive proposal system overseen by the Australian National Data Service (ANDS).

• What impact could this have on everyday life?
• By refining climate sensitivity estimates, the data informs flood‑risk planning, agricultural advisories, and coastal infrastructure design—ultimately protecting communities from climate‑related hazards.

---

Prepared for archyde.com, 06 January 2026 – 23:18:12.