Australia's ambitious scientific mission to retrieve an Antarctic ice core dating back more than a million years is a step closer, with the unveiling of a new 400-kilogram drill capable of pulling samples from almost three-kilometres under the ice cap.
The drill, which can operate at temperatures 55 degrees below zero, will be used to retrieve the world's oldest continuous ice core, in what is viewed by the Federal Government as an important climate science project.
One million years ago the rhythm of ice ages changed dramatically and the million-year ice core program is about finding out why.
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The ice cores which the drill hopes to recover contain tiny bubbles of air from around a million years ago, which will give Australian scientists a snapshot of the atmosphere from that period of time.
The 10-metre-long stainless-steel drill head was designed and built by Australian Antarctic Division engineers in Tasmania over the last two years.
Engineers prepared massive blocks of ice over two months, adding small amounts of water every day to make the half tonne necessary to replicate the icy Antarctic conditions required to properly test the drill for the first time outside the workshop today.
Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley said the unveiling of the drill today was a "huge milestone".
"Australia's role in global climate research is incredibly significant and this project is at the absolute cutting edge," Ms Ley said.
"We hope this information will help us understand more about climate changes of the past and long-term climate impacts."
To deliver the world's oldest ice core, teams will traverse 1300 kilometres of the Antarctic to the site at 'Little Dome C' and then drill for several summer seasons through 2800 metres of ice in some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth.
"This is a modern-day Antarctic adventure," Ms Ley said.
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