Overview
- The SWAIS2C team drilled at Crary Ice Rise after melting a 523-meter hole through the Ross Ice Shelf with ~75°C water to reach the seabed.
- Preliminary layers include shell fragments and light-dependent microfossils, indicating past ice-free conditions in the Ross Sea sector.
- The new drilling system surpassed prior sub-ice recoveries of under ten meters, yielding the longest sediment core ever obtained beneath an ice sheet.
- Researchers camped for nearly ten weeks about 700 kilometers from the nearest base, with a 29-person crew overcoming earlier failed attempts.
- The cores have been delivered to Scott Base for shipment to New Zealand and distribution to international labs for detailed dating and geochemical analyses.