I can say with some authority that the majority of us were stunned by the level of information that can be gleaned from a careful study of the ice core record.

Earlier this year in June, a group of scientists of varying career stages from six different institutions arrived at National Science Foundation Ice Core Facility (NSF-ICF), Lakewood, Colorado for two weeks. The goal? To unbox, unpack, process, and cut Antarctic ice cores drilled from the Allan Hills Blue Ice Area in 2022-2023 and earlier field seasons for a multitude of different measurements.

A team of eight people – camp manager, two ice core drillers, five scientists – spent nearly 6 weeks at the Allan Hills blue ice area from December 2022 into early January 2023. They recovered two ice cores. One is a large-diameter (9.5”) borehole to 96 m depth at a site where 2.7 million year old ice has been previously recovered.

All three COLDEX research teams have successfully completed their 2022-2023 field seasons.

The Elephant Moraine trip was a success, recovering a 9 meter ice core at this site where previous samples taken by Korean colleagues indicate ice dating to between 400,000 and 1,000,000 years old.

All COLDEX teams send thoughts of peace and happiness to all for the holidays, and are grateful to have everyone’s support both on the ice and back home.