Blick: Protecting Ice Memory

The international project “Protecting Ice Memory” aims to preserve the most valuable ice archives from high altitude glaciers for future generations.

With the ongoing warming of our climate and the consequence of rapid glacier melting observed worldwide, these natural archives of past climate and atmospheric conditions are in danger of being lost forever. As the glaciers warm, percolating melt-water will irreversibly disturb their chronological layering, thus making future investigations by next generation scientists with improved and to date still unknown analytical possibilities impossible.

“Protecting Ice Memory” will collect around 20 ice cores extracted from various glaciers around the globe in a natural ice cave at Concordia Station (Antarctica). With mean annual temperatures of around -50 °C, there, safe long-term storage and preservation of these valuable archives of the past is guaranteed.