At the Vostok Station in Antarctica, Russian scientists have extracted ice samples with an age exceeding 1.2 million years. This was reported by the Russian Geographical Society (RGS). Specialists increased the depth of the borehole to 3,610 meters as part of the 69th Russian Antarctic Expedition.
The obtained ice samples are unique – according to scientists’ estimates, they were extracted in an area where the transition from ancient atmospheric ice to lake ice occurs, which accumulates at the base of the glacier beneath the surface of Lake Vostok.
The press service of the RGS noted that the samples would be transported to Russia on the research vessel “Akademik Fyodorov.” After initial processing at the station, in the cold laboratory, they will be sent to the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) for further research.
“Vostok” is a year-round scientific station in the inland Antarctica, where research is conducted in the fields of climate, Earth’s magnetic field, meteorology, geophysics, glaciology, and other areas. Lake Vostok, located at a depth of 4 kilometers beneath the ice, is a unique object of study and is considered an Earth analogue of subglacial oceans on Jupiter and Saturn’s moons.
Photo: AP Photo/Brennan Linsley