Overview
- The SWAIS2C team drilled through about 523 meters (1,716 feet) of ice at Crary Ice Rise to retrieve a 228-meter (748-foot) sediment core, the longest ever taken from beneath an ice sheet.
- Working hundreds of miles from the nearest station, 29 international specialists used a hot‑water drill and more than 1,300 meters of riser and drill string after two earlier seasons failed to reach sediment.
- Preliminary in‑field dating of microfossils suggests the core spans roughly 23 million years, and the sections have been transported to New Zealand for detailed laboratory analysis.
- Researchers report shell fragments and other marine remains in sandy layers, indicating past open‑ocean, ice‑free conditions at the site.
- The project aims to constrain thresholds and rates of West Antarctic Ice Sheet and Ross Ice Shelf retreat under warming beyond 2°C, a critical factor in assessing potential 4–5 meters of future sea‑level rise.