From Antarctica to Brussels, hunting climate clues in old ice
In a small, refrigerated room at a Brussels university, parka-wearing scientists chop up Antarctic ice cores tens of thousands of years old in search of clues to our planet's changing climate.
Trapped inside the cylindrical icicles are tiny air bubbles that can provide a snapshot of what the earth's atmosphere looked like back then.
"We want to know a lot about the climates of the past because we can use it as an analogy for what can happen in the future," said Harry Zekollari, a glaciologist at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).
Zekollari was part of a team of four that headed to the white continent in November on a mission to find some of the world's oldest ice -- without breaking the bank.
Ice dating back millions of years can be found deep inside Antarctica, close to the South Pole, buried under kilometers of fresher ice and snow.
But that's hard to reach and expeditions to drill it out are expensive.
A recent EU-funded mission that brought back some 1.2-million-year-old samples came with a total price tag of around 11 million euros (around $12.8 million).
To cut costs, the team from VUB and the nearby Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) used satellite data and other clues to find areas where ancient ice might be more accessible.
Just like the water it is made of, ice flows towards the coast -- albeit slowly, explained Maaike Izeboud, a remote sensing specialist at VUB.
And when the flow hits an obstacle, say a ridge or mountain, bottom layers can be pushed up closer to the surface.
In a few rare spots, weather conditions like heavy winds prevent the formation of snow cover -- leaving thick layers of ice exposed.
Named after their colouration, which contrasts with the whiteness of the rest of the continent, these account for only about one percent of Antarctica territory.
"Blue ice areas are very special," said Izeboud.
Her team zeroed in on a blue ice stretch lying about 2,300 meters (7,500 feet) above sea level, around 60 kilometers from Belgium's Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Research Station.
Some old meteorites had been previously found there -- a hint that the surrounding ice is also old, the researchers explained.
A container camp was set up and after a few weeks of measurements, drilling, and frozen meals, in January the team came back with 15 ice cores totaling about 60 meters in length.
These were then shipped from South Africa to Belgium, where they arrived in late June.
Inside a stocky cement ULB building in the Belgian capital, they are now being cut into smaller pieces to then be shipped to specialized labs in France and China for dating.
Zekollari said the team hopes some of the samples, which were taken at shallow depths of about 10 meters, will be confirmed to be about 100,000 years old.
Climate 'treasure hunt'
This would allow them to go back and dig a few hundred meters deeper in the same spot for the big prize.
"It's like a treasure hunt," Zekollari, 36, said, comparing their work to drawing a map for "Indiana Jones".
"We're trying to cross the good spot on the map... and in one and a half years, we'll go back and we'll drill there," he said. "We're dreaming a bit, but we hope to get maybe three, four, five-million-year-old ice."
Such ice could provide crucial input to climatologists studying the effects of global warming.
Climate projections and models are calibrated using existing data on past temperatures and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere -- but the puzzle has some missing pieces.
By the end of the century temperatures could reach levels similar to those the planet last experienced between 2.6 and 3.3 million years ago, said Etienne Legrain, 29, a paleo-climatologist at ULB.
But currently there is little data on what CO2 levels were back then -- a key metric to understand how much further warming we could expect.
"We don't know the link between CO2 concentration and temperature in a climate warmer than that of today," Legrain said.
His team hopes to find it trapped inside some very old ice. "The air bubbles are the atmosphere of the past," he said. "It's really like magic when you feel it."
© 2025 AFP
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By Umberto BACCHI In a small, refrigerated room at a Brussels university, parka-wearing scientists chop up Antarctic ice cores tens of thousands of years old in search of clues to our planet's changing climate. Trapped inside the cylindrical icicles are tiny air bubbles that can provide a snapshot of what the earth's atmosphere looked like back then. "We want to know a lot about the climates of the past because we can use it as an analogy for what can happen in the future," said Harry Zekollari, a glaciologist at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Zekollari was part of a team of four that headed to the white continent in November on a mission to find some of the world's oldest ice -- without breaking the bank. Ice dating back millions of years can be found deep inside Antarctica, close to the South Pole, buried under kilometers of fresher ice and snow. But that's hard to reach and expeditions to drill it out are expensive. A recent EU-funded mission that brought back some 1.2-million-year-old samples came with a total price tag of around 11 million euros (around $12.8 million). To cut costs, the team from VUB and the nearby Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) used satellite data and other clues to find areas where ancient ice might be more accessible. Just like the water it is made of, ice flows towards the coast -- albeit slowly, explained Maaike Izeboud, a remote sensing specialist at VUB. And when the flow hits an obstacle, say a ridge or mountain, bottom layers can be pushed up closer to the surface. In a few rare spots, weather conditions like heavy winds prevent the formation of snow cover -- leaving thick layers of ice exposed. Named after their colouration, which contrasts with the whiteness of the rest of the continent, these account for only about one percent of Antarctica territory. "Blue ice areas are very special," said Izeboud. Her team zeroed in on a blue ice stretch lying about 2,300 meters (7,500 feet) above sea level, around 60 kilometers from Belgium's Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Research Station. Some old meteorites had been previously found there -- a hint that the surrounding ice is also old, the researchers explained. A container camp was set up and after a few weeks of measurements, drilling, and frozen meals, in January the team came back with 15 ice cores totaling about 60 meters in length. These were then shipped from South Africa to Belgium, where they arrived in late June. Inside a stocky cement ULB building in the Belgian capital, they are now being cut into smaller pieces to then be shipped to specialized labs in France and China for dating. Zekollari said the team hopes some of the samples, which were taken at shallow depths of about 10 meters, will be confirmed to be about 100,000 years old. Climate 'treasure hunt' This would allow them to go back and dig a few hundred meters deeper in the same spot for the big prize. "It's like a treasure hunt," Zekollari, 36, said, comparing their work to drawing a map for "Indiana Jones". "We're trying to cross the good spot on the map... and in one and a half years, we'll go back and we'll drill there," he said. "We're dreaming a bit, but we hope to get maybe three, four, five-million-year-old ice." Such ice could provide crucial input to climatologists studying the effects of global warming. Climate projections and models are calibrated using existing data on past temperatures and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere -- but the puzzle has some missing pieces. By the end of the century temperatures could reach levels similar to those the planet last experienced between 2.6 and 3.3 million years ago, said Etienne Legrain, 29, a paleo-climatologist at ULB. But currently there is little data on what CO2 levels were back then -- a key metric to understand how much further warming we could expect. "We don't know the link between CO2 concentration and temperature in a climate warmer than that of today," Legrain said. His team hopes to find it trapped inside some very old ice. "The air bubbles are the atmosphere of the past," he said. "It's really like magic when you feel it." © 2025 AFP
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They also had to avoid crevasses tens of meters deep while facing exhaustion in the minus 15˚C conditions. On one occasion, a sled carrying food fell down a concealed crevasse and was left dangling. Working together, the explorers were able to retrieve the sled without losing any of their food, and continue their mission. Finally, 19 days after the explorers had set out on a journey plagued by many difficulties, the Yamatos finally came into view. The ancient blue ice surrounding the mountains presented an air of mystery. After a short break, the explorers began their 54-day search. Travelling in three snowmobiles, they traversed the ice, searching for meteorites. One day in November, the team discovered a 51-kilogram meteorite composed chiefly of iron. All delighted at the discovery of what was at the time the largest meteorite ever found in the Yamato mountains. During the excitement, another large rock (Yamato 000593) was found just 500 meters away. While the explorers could tell that it was a stony meteorite, they would need to wait for analysis to discover its true value. Assistant Professor Imae looks back on the discovery: 'When we found the meteorite, its unique greenish hue was striking. I knew instinctively that it was one I had not seen before. As soon as we got back to Japan, we analyzed it.' Three snowcats pulled a total of 22 sleds on the search for meteorites. (Courtesy the National Institute of Polar Research) Three snowmobiles drive alongside a snowcat. (Courtesy the National Institute of Polar Research) Photo from when Yamato 000593 was discovered. (Courtesy the National Institute of Polar Research) A Martian Time Capsule and a 1.3 Billion Year Journey Upon its arrival in Japan, Yamato 000593 underwent detailed analysis at the National Institute of Polar Research. State-of-the-art technologies let scientists confirm that the rock was of Martian origin. This was possible because the meteorite contained rare gas isotopes, in addition to nitrogen and carbon dioxide, matching the profile of the Martian atmosphere observed by the Viking probe in the 1970s. This was solid evidence that Yamato 000593 had absorbed the Martian atmosphere as it was being formed. The team also discovered that the meteorite contained clay minerals. Because these minerals are generally created upon reaction with water, it suggests that when the rock was on Mars, there was probably water near the surface—evidence that Mars was once temperate and humid. Additionally, the scientists unlocked the secret of the meteorite's epic journey. Radiometric dating found that the meteorite solidified around 1.3 billion years ago, composed of magma from the Martian mantle that cooled near the planet's surface. Using cosmic-ray exposure dating, the team also calculated that the rock was exposed to space for around 10 million years. In other words, around 10 million years ago, Mars was impacted by a giant object that caused debris, including Yamato 000593, to be flung into space. Having escaped Mars' gravity, Yamato 000593 floated through space, orbiting the sun while gradually approaching the Earth's orbit. It finally succumbed to Earth's gravity, broke through the atmosphere, and fell onto the Antarctic ice. Interestingly, a total of 29 meteorites believed to have broken away from Mars around 10 million years ago have been discovered on Earth to date, supporting the theory that a major collision event took place on the red planet at this time. This optical microscope photograph of Yamato 000593 shows that olivine in the rock's interior has been partially transformed into clay minerals. (Courtesy the National Institute of Polar Research) Unlocking the Solar System's Mysteries Yamato 000593 is just one of a number of meteorites known to have originated in Mars. The National Institute of Polar Research Antarctic meteorite collection as a whole holds immeasurable value for science. Many of the specimens in the collection are so-called primitive meteorites, formed around 4.6 billion years ago. This is considered to be around when the solar system was formed, meaning that such meteorites may be described as fossils from the origin of our solar system, more or less preserving compounds made from the dust and gas that existed before planets were formed. Analysis of these meteorites will enable us to answer fundamental questions, like how the sun and the planets came to be formed, and how organic compounds came to give rise to life on earth. Every meteorite is an important piece in the puzzle of the birth of the solar system. The collection will also be extremely important as a control when analyzing the samples collected from the Ryūgū asteroid by the Hayabusa 2 probe. Comparing compounds that have different origins but that date from the time of the solar system's formation will improve our understanding of the diversity and universality of the system's material evolution. The Japanese research team continues to search for meteorites in Antarctica, in what is a continually evolving field that promises still further discoveries as analytical technologies improve. Experience the Scale of the Universe for Yourself The Yamato 000593 meteorite can be viewed at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai. More than just an unusual rock, Yamato 000593 is a messenger that was born 1.3 billion years ago on Mars and spent 10 million years travelling through space before reaching Antarctica and being discovered by Japanese explorers. The rock's interior contains a record of Martian water reserves and the evolution of the solar system. I would love you to see this fragment of Mars for yourself. Experiencing its presence and texture and the epic story that it contains within will give you a new perspective on the expanse of space, the miracle that is the Earth, and the human spirit of discovery. (Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: Yamato 000593 was discovered by Japanese Antarctic explorers. Courtesy the National Institute of Polar Research.)
