Antarctica – Ice core sampling at temperatures of -30 degrees is possible: the European Cold Laboratory Facilities of the University of Milano-Bicocca has completed the first phase of IPICS -2kyr-Italy, coordinated by ENEA. The project aims at collecting a paleoclimatic sequence from a remote site on the Eastern Antarctica Shell. The project, funded by the Ministry of Education as part of the National Programme for Antarctic Research, aims to provide new data on climate variability over the past 2000 years, through multiple perforations in various sites. An essential part of this project saw the 2013-14 Italian expedition in Antarctica collect snow and ice. The drilling site, chosen for its high snow accumulation, is 500 km from the Italian base, named after Mario Zucchelli, at an altitude of 1,900 meters (average annual temperature: -32°C). (9Colonne)
