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Memory on Ice
01.14.2019, by
The goal of the Ice Memory programme, launched in 2015 by the glaciologists Jérôme Chappellaz and Patrick Ginot, is to create a global ice archive sanctuary in Antarctica. And they must act quickly, as glaciers everywhere are melting due to global warming, taking with them invaluable information regarding the climate of the past.
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The first mission was conducted in August 2016 at the foot of Mont Blanc, at the Col du Dôme glacier, located at an altitude of 4,300 meters. Alpine glaciers have lost 50% of their mass since 1850.
Bruno Jourdain/LGGE/CNRS Photothèque
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Three ice cores were taken at the foot of Mont Blanc, each measuring 130 meters in length, the full depth of the glacier down to its rocky base. Here we see the tube of a core drill, before the extraction of the core.
Bruno Jourdain/LGGE/CNRS Photothèque
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When ice forms, it traps the different chemical components in the air: gases, acids, heavy metals, radioactivity, water isotopes…It is a priceless source of information for retracing our climatic past.
Bruno Jourdain/LGGE/CNRS Photothèque
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A second expedition was undertaken in Bolivia in the spring of 2017 on the Illimani glacier. All of the equipment, weighing in at two tons, was carried on foot to the drilling site, located at an altitude of 6,300 meters.
Bruno Jourdain/LGGE/CNRS Photothèque
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Radar measurements for mapping the thickness of the ice around the Illimani drilling site in Bolivia. Despite difficult climate conditions, two ice cores were taken, each measuring 130 meters in length.
Bruno Jourdain/LGGE/CNRS Photothèque
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The last drilling operation (to date) was conducted in Russia during the summer of 2018, on the Elbrouz glacier in the Caucasus Mountains. It followed on a first mission conducted in the spring of 2018 on the Belukha glacier, located in the Altai Mountains.
Sarah Del Ben/Wild Touch/Fondation UGA
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After each expedition, the researchers keep one of the two cores for purposes of analysis. The others will soon arrive at Concordia Station in Antarctica, where they will be buried at a depth of 10 meters. “Fridge” temperature: – 54°C.
Sarah Del Ben/Wild Touch/Fondation UGA
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