Researchers Embark On Kite Skis in Search of 130,000-Year-Old Ice In Antarctica
French glaciologist Heidi Sevestre has begun her three-month expedition in search of ancient Antarctic ice alongside Matthieu Tordeur, a French explorer. The duo packed their bags and headed to find 130,000-year-old ice while aboard kite skis. The ancient ice will help them understand the impact of the melting of the "white planet" on the global sea level. "This is very much a pioneering expedition that combines lots of adventure, but also really ambitious science," Sevestre told AFP, as per Phys.org.
The pair flew from South Africa and landed in Cape Town before heading to Antarctica's Novolazarevskaya base. They started their journey at the beginning of the Antarctic summer, which is the only period when weather conditions are slightly less extreme and travel is possible. The mission also coincided with the COP30 climate conference in Brazil, where world leaders discuss climate policy. The French duo believes that this coincidence will work in their favor and for the mission they embarked on.
The team hopes to draw attention to the urgency of climate change and inspire leaders to take stronger, more effective action against global warming. Their mission was clear: the duo was embarking on a formidable challenge. They must travel in complete isolation, carrying everything needed for their 2,485-mile journey, while also enduring freezing temperatures that could plunge to minus 50 degrees Celsius (-58°F). "We can travel, if the conditions are right, 150 kilometers (93 miles) or even 200 kilometers (124 miles) (per day)," Tordeur told the outlet.
Although this expedition is the first of its kind, the French duo took a test drive across around 932 miles on kite skis in Greenland. The test run lasted a month, during which they collected ice samples. This time, they must complete 2,485 miles in 90 days, as per the outlet. Moreover, they must exit Antarctica before the end of January. "We will need to exit Antarctica by the end of January because after that, there are no planes and no logistics that can help us out," Tordeur said.
Tordeur, who has travelled the polar region multiple times over the course of a decade, shared insights on the scary aspect of Antarctica. "Antarctica is the coldest, driest, and windiest place on the planet. It is also the highest continent on Earth," the French expeditioner said. "On most of our trip, we will be very high in altitude ... up to 3,800 meters. It is the continent of all extremes," he added. The adventure will be amidst the wildlife of the region with no humans in sight. "Once you go inside the continent, there is nothing. It's just a big, vast expanse of whiteness, and there is no life," the adventurer said.
The duo plans to dig deeper to get the desired ice to conduct their research. "We're really interested in trying to find ice that is very deep and very old ... between two and three kilometers in depth," Sevestre told AFP. The ancient ice is from a time when the climate on Earth was three degrees warmer. The researchers believe that with the consistent increase in global warming, the climate could soon resemble conditions from around 130,000 years ago. "If at some point we do not find ice that is older than 130,000 years ago, it means that some parts of Antarctica collapsed when the climate was at plus three degrees," she added.
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