Research points to ancient, undisturbed Antarctic ice core, media report – Campbell, Kurbatov, and Spaulding

Gizmodo, Quartz and LabRoots reported on a new study published in Geophysical Research Letters by researchers at the University of Washington and University of Maine. The current record for a continuous ice core is 800,000 years, but the new research shows an even older continuous core may exist deep within the Allan Hills Blue Ice Area in East Antarctica — one that could contain a complete Antarctic climate record over the past one million years, Gizmodo reported. The site had been rejected in the past as a candidate for continuous ice cores, because the base of the ice sheet appeared to be disturbed, but data collected by the UW and UMaine researchers suggests an extensive, unbroken chain of icy stratigraphy lies below, the article states. UMaine researchers Seth Campbell, Andrei Kurbatov and Nicole Spaulding are co-authors on the study.