Under temperatures averaging -35°C and 50 kilometers from the Concordia scientific station , a UK-led team of researchers completed a drilling operation that reached the bedrock at a depth of 2.8 kilometers.

The Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice project, coordinated by the British Antarctic Survey , succeeded in extracting continuous ice cores containing atmospheric information from 1.2 million years ago, establishing a new milestone in paleoclimate research.

The chosen drilling site was Little Dome C , in East Antarctica, an area where extreme conditions and isolation impose significant logistical challenges.

For several years, the international team worked to descend to the base of the ice with the precision necessary to preserve intact a material that functions as a natural time capsule: the deepest layers preserve air bubbles and chemical compounds from times long before human presence on the continent.

Scientists are now focusing their analysis on the lower 190 meters of the extracted core, where the oldest ice is found. Using continuous flow techniques, they are slowly melting the material to simultaneously measure isotopes, particles, and chemical compounds. This almost artisanal process allows them to reconstruct the atmospheric composition with a resolution that no other geological record can offer.

One of the central goals of the research is to understand a fundamental shift in the planet's climate history: the transition from 41,000-year glacial cycles to 100,000-year cycles. Until now, this phenomenon has been studied primarily through marine sediments. Antarctic ice provides direct evidence of the atmosphere during that period, which will allow for adjustments to current climate models.

Comparing the concentrations of greenhouse gases trapped in ancient ice with current levels provides an objective context on the magnitude of recent atmospheric transformations.

The frozen archive of Antarctica, once again, is proving to be a key tool for understanding past changes and assessing future trajectories.