Scientists Unveil World's Oldest Ice Block
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TOKYO (Reuters) - A million-year-old ice sample drilled
from 3 kilometres under the Antarctic and unveiled in Tokyo on Tuesday could yield vital clues on climate change, Japanese scientists said.
Researchers, showing off the cylindrical samples of what they said was the oldest ice ever to be retrieved, said studying air trapped inside "core" samples taken from various depths under ground could also help predict how the Earth's weather patterns will change in the future.
"The ice core is made up of snow that fell in the distant past," said project leader Hideaki Motoyama of the National Institute of Polar Research, dressed snugly in a parka after unveiling the gleaming ice in a room kept at minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit).
"You can use it to examine changes in temperature, levels of carbon dioxide and methane over time, information that is only available from the core," he said.
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Researchers, showing off the cylindrical samples of what they said was the oldest ice ever to be retrieved, said studying air trapped inside "core" samples taken from various depths under ground could also help predict how the Earth's weather patterns will change in the future.
"The ice core is made up of snow that fell in the distant past," said project leader Hideaki Motoyama of the National Institute of Polar Research, dressed snugly in a parka after unveiling the gleaming ice in a room kept at minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit).
"You can use it to examine changes in temperature, levels of carbon dioxide and methane over time, information that is only available from the core," he said.
Continue Here
Million year old ice samples from 3 kilometers under Antartic may help scientists understand past climate change.
