Japanese Scientists Dig Up Million-Year-Old Ice

CLIMATE SCIENCE

File photo of the Dome Fuji Station in ice fog.

by Staff Writers
Tokyo (AFP) Jan 24, 2006
Japanese researchers said Tuesday they had dug up ice in the Antarctic Ocean estimated to be one million years old that could give more clues than ever about climate and environmental changes.

It is believed to be the oldest ice ever retrieved after an 800,000-year-old block collected by European scientists in 2004.

The Japanese mission headed by the National Institute of Polar Research drilled down more than 3,000 meters (about 10,000 feet) in the Antarctic Ocean to pull out the slab deep in the ice core.

The group will bring the ice back to Japan in April for research.

"We need further analysis but the ice is expected to clarify things such as climate and environmental change or the evolution of microbes over the past million years," said Yoshiyuki Fujii, director general at the polar institute.

"Finding out the cycle and rhythm of climate change in the past will help to forecast the future," he told AFP.

The research group took three years to drill to the ice at Japan's Dome Fuji Station.

Source: Agence France-Presse

Related Links

CLIMATE SCIENCE

NJIT Solar Physicists Report Paradox: Less Sunlight, But Temps Rise

Newark NJ (SPX) Jan 24, 2006
Less sunlight reaching the Earth's surface has not translated into cooler temperatures, according to a team of solar physicists at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).

DISASTER MANAGEMENT Coral, Mangroves Priceless As Natural Buffers, Fishing Grounds Darkness Spikes EMS Helicopter Crashes, Fatalities Contigency Plan Issued For Accidental Calamities Hazard Mitigation Can Save Money	CLIMATE SCIENCE NJIT Solar Physicists Report Paradox: Less Sunlight, But Temps Rise 2005 Was The Warmest Year In A Century Japanese Scientists Dig Up Million-Year-Old Ice NASA To Fly Into Tropical "Portal" To The Stratosphere
EARTH OBSERVATION Japan's ALOS In Orbit: ESA Will Deliver Its Data To European Researchers Winter Snow On The Hindu Kush NASA Magnetic Field Mission Ends TIGER Innovators Enhance North-South Collaboration	ENERGY TECH Portugal Pushes Back Deadline For International Wind Farm Bids Energy Techs Cut Path To Reduced Emissions Iran, Nigeria Lead To Oil Spike Lithium-Ion Batteries Could Replace Standard Batteries In Hybrid Vehicles
EPIDEMICS WHO: Pandemic Threat Not Exaggerated London Scientists Discover H5N1 Mutation Bird Flu Virus Mutations Found In Turkey Malaria Parasites Develop In Lymph Nodes	FLORA AND FAUNA Mute Swan Population Helps Explain Longstanding Evolutionary Question Increased Competition For Pollen May Lead To Plant Extinctions South Seeking Bacteria In The Northern Hemisphere Intelligent Design Again Stopped By Court
FROTH AND BUBBLE 21 000 Chemical Plants On China's Waterways Raises Alarm Researchers Develop Pollution-Busting Plants To Clean Up Contaminated Land India's "Ship-Shops" Sink As Business Dries Up French Boat Controversy May Doom Indian Shipbreaking	ABOUT US Study Suggests Why Neanderthals Vanished New Technique Puts Brain-Imaging Research On Its Head New Maps Reveal True Extent Of Human Footprint On Earth Distinct Brain Regions Specialized For Faces And Bodies

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement