Researchers close in to find drilling spot of Antarctic ice core 1.5 mn years old

Scientists in the Antarctic are close to finalising a location to start drilling that could reveal the continuous record of Earth's climate dating back 1.5 million years. 

After about 10 years of work, scientists at the Australian Antarctic Division are close to finding a place to drill an ice core as deep as almost 3,000 metres, reports The Guardian. 

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If the mission succeeds, scientists would able to get a reliable record of the Earth's climate records that could be older than half a million years.

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The location, known as Little Dome C, has an average temperature of -51 degrees C on a daily basis.

The area around Little Dome C is nearly 40 kms far from Dome C, the site of the longest continuous ice core record thus far, going back about 800,000 years.

A Europe-backed effort that has operated closely with the Australian researchers has already suggested a drill site in the Little Dome C region.

Ice cores hold significance the climate scientists to assess what happened to the Blue Planet's climate in the past and what could happen in the future with the rise in greenhouse levels due to burning of the fossil fuels.