Valuable Antarctic ice will arrive in Bern in midsummer
Keystone-SDA
Parts of the oldest ice core ever recovered will be arriving in Switzerland from the Antarctic in mid-summer.
Researchers at the University of Bern are eagerly anticipating a unique scientific find this August. They announced on Wednesday that parts of the oldest ice from the Antarctic to date will arrive in Switzerland.
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The 2.8-kilometre-long ice core holds climate data dating back over 1.2 million years. It was successfully retrieved earlier this year. At the University of Bern’s ice laboratory, researchers will analyse gases such as CO2 and methane in the ice to gather information about the climate during that period.
+Bern scientists recover ice core dating back 1.2 million years
“This requires precision,” said Hubertus Fischer, who is leading the Swiss investigations. “We are very meticulous about this,” said the researcher. The university is ready. “Our methods have been extensively tested.” Parts of the ice are also being analysed by other universities in Europe.
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At the moment, the ice cores are still in the Antarctic. They will soon be loaded into special refrigerated containers on an Italian research ship, which will transport them to Europe.
Translated from German by DeepL/sp
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