Extreme science

Your names are in the deep field! 

Your names are continuing their epic journey around Antarctica. They’ve made it to Camp REWIND – the home of 12 researchers, engineers and polar field guides for the next four months.  

Let’s catch up with our polar pilots

Our polar pilots have had a busy start to the season, flying researchers and science equipment around the continent. Pilot Tom has been capturing some amazing photos and videos for you – so take a look and experience the feeling of flying in Antarctica…

Why do we need to study Antarctica?  

Before we dive into the science, why do need to study this frozen wilderness?  

Scientists travel to this remote continent because it can tell us what Earth’s climate was like thousands of years ago. The ice and rocks in Antarctica store information about ancient air, sea temperatures and even tiny ocean creatures from long before humans existed. By studying this frozen library, we can learn how our planet responds to changes and make better predictions about climate change.  

Ice cores 101 

One reason scientists go into the deep field is to drill ice cores.  

These cylinders of frozen ice are like a climate archive – or time capsule – storing thousands of years’ worth of climate records which palaeoclimatologists (scientists who look at past climates) study. In fact, our team of ice core scientists have spent the summer analysing an ice core that goes back more than one million years in time!  

It is from ice cores that scientists have reconstructed how much carbon dioxide was in the atmosphere more than 800,000 years ago.  

Want to take a deep dive into the science of ice cores? Check out this article: The core of the matter: the scientists using Antarctic ice to understand our climate. 

Travelling back in time 

Ice cores can tell us more than how much carbon dioxide was in the past atmosphere. They can tell us things like how much sea ice there was and even ancient wind patterns.  

This is exactly what a team of researchers are about to spend the next four months studying. They’re going to drill 800m into the ice sheet to collect an ice core that goes back 11,000 years – a time when the Earth was warming after the last ice age.  

And if you’re wondering just how long 800m is – picture eight football pitches end to end! But don’t worry – it’s not one, continuous cylinder of ice. The scientists extract them in shorter sections so they’re easier to remove and transport.  

Location, location, location

The team are at a remote camp about 40km away from Sky-Blu (our deep-field camp we visited last week). So why does this research have to happen at a remote camp, and not near a station where they can have a comfy bed at the end of the night? Well, only a few locations are just right for collecting ice cores. 

Although Antarctica has an abundance of ice, not all ice is created equal. To get the best ice cores, scientists need to find locations with lots of regular snowfall. The more snow, the more information trapped in the ice.

And back to Halley VI… 

While Team REWIND are busy getting ready for the long days of science ahead, we’re heading back to Halley, where Dan and the team have finally arrived! 

As you can see, there’s been a lot of snow! Over the next few days, Dan will start digging snow out from that doorway and heating it up in tea urns. Once he has enough melted snow, he’ll use it to ‘seed’ the main melt tank. It’s a long job! 

And that amazing ice sculpture? That was blocking the entrance to the frozen food store. There’s frozen food, and then there’s frozen food!

Ice shelf science 

Halley VI sits on a floating ice shelf called the Brunt.  

An ice shelf is a thick platform of ice that’s attached to land but extends out over the ocean, floating on the water. Ice shelves are really important because they act as a barrier, or a brake, stopping the ice on land from sliding into the ocean. Without ice shelves, the land ice would flow much more quickly into the sea, causing sea levels to rise.  

Over the past few years, a team of researchers have been busy studying how, and why, giant cracks form in Antarctic ice shelves, like the Brunt.

The big cracks

Two large ice shelf cracks have appeared in the Brunt in recent times. Chasm 1 was the first, and it was a crack that scientists expected to see. It kept growing until eventually a piece of ice broke off – just as predicted.  

However, Halloween Crack appeared in 2017 and was much more surprising (bonus points if you can guess why it was named Halloween Crack!). Scientists didn’t expect it to form, based on what they knew at the time. It wasn’t just the crack itself that worried them, but the fact that they couldn’t predict what might happen next.  

Check out this video to see the Halloween Crack from above

What are scientists doing? 

The research team uses lots of techniques to understand this process of ice shelf cracking better. Two important ones include drilling for ice cores and, believe it or not, listening to the ice! 

They collected shallow ice cores and sent them to a lab back in the UK, where  the scientists are now studying them to see what the ice is made of, how strong it is, and how easily it cracks.  

They also placed special microphones called seismometers around cracks to detect tiny vibrations known as ‘icequakes’. By studying these icequakes, they can figure out how cracks are spreading and whether they’re influenced by things like ocean tides or the moon’s cycles.