An international research team, with the co-leadership of a University of Alberta researcher, has successfully extracted the deepest ice core ever drilled in the Americas from the Müller Ice Cap on Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut. The project reached bedrock on May 17, 2025, recovering materials from beneath the ancient ice.
Alison Criscitiello, director of the Canadian Ice Core Lab, highlights the core's unique location, which is expected to provide insights into the atmospheric transport of environmental contaminants. The 613-meter core aims to unlock up to 20,000 years of Arctic climate and ocean variability records.
Researchers will analyze sea salts and halogens within the core to reconstruct past sea ice conditions, offering crucial data for understanding global climate health and Arctic Ocean dynamics. The project also drilled three shallower 70-meter ice cores to study pollution and contaminant transport over the past two centuries.