Scientists store Swiss glacier ice cores in Antarctic archive
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Scientists store Swiss glacier ice cores in Antarctic archive
A new ice archive in Antarctica is preserving samples from melting glaciers. The Ice Memory Foundation opened the facility on Wednesday, securing the first ice cores from the Alps in the continent’s perpetual frost.
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The first two ice cores stored in the archive come from glaciers on Switzerland’s Grand Combin and France’s Mont Blanc, the foundation said on Wednesday. They reached Antarctica after a journey of more than 50 days by ship and plane.
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The archive is a 35-metre ice cave carved into the snow about nine metres below the surface. Inside, the temperature stays at a constant -52°C, kept naturally cold by the Antarctic climate.
The foundation says the ice cores hold clues about the Earth’s past atmosphere and will be preserved for future generations of scientists.
The initiative also involves the Paul Scherrer Institute and researchers from the University of Bern.
Translated from German by AI/sp
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