Scientists find oldest ice core dating back to 5 million years

Scientists have discovered the Earth’s oldest ice core, with some sections potentially preserving samples as old as 5 million years.

Scientists have recovered older ice samples elsewhere before, with the oldest dating back 2.7 million years. However, these were collected closer to the surface of the ice after being pushed upward by the natural flow of the glaciers.

But the new discovery could help scientists analyse the ice sediments that contain greenhouse gases from Earth's atmosphere at a time when the planet's cycles of glacial advance and retreat were just beginning. It could also potentially offerclues to what triggered the ice ages.

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The nearly 10-metre-long sediment-filled ice core was found in Ong Valley in the Transantarctic Mountains, which separate eastern and western Antarctica.

The study was published in The Cryosphere journal on July 15.

The scientists were able to analyse the appropriate age of the ice while drilling through ice core measuring 9.5 m (31 ft) long during the Southern Hemisphere summer of 2017 and 2018, according to Nature.com.

They have recorded the age of material at different depths. According to them, the upper section is estimated to be around 3 million years old, while the lower section was dated to between 4.3 and 5.1 million years, which is almost twice as old as the previous record-holder, at 2.7 million years.

The ice sheets from Greenland and Antarctica are key to understanding modern climate science. Traditionally, scientists drill in places where ice layers accumulate year after year, undisturbed by glacial flows.

The discovery was made by the Beyond European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA). It was funded by the European Commission and being carried out by the Institute of Polar Sciences of the Cnr (National Research Council of Italy) and The British Antarctic Survey (BAS).

(With inputs from agencies)

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