- Title: Record-length sediment core could shed light on West Antarctic retreat
- Date: 17th February 2026
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (FEBRUARY 12, 2026) (Reuters) VAN DE FLIERDT AND MARSCHALEK LOOKING AT AN OLD SEDIMENT SAMPLE IN A LAB VARIOUS OF SEDIMENT SAMPLE (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. JIM MARSCHALEK, IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON, SAYING: "The site we got the sediment core from is really far inland at the moment, so several hundred kilometres inland, away from the ocean at the moment.
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: Antarctic Sediment Core Ice Sheet Retreat Imperial College London SWAIS2C West Antarctic Ice Sheet
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK / CRARY ICE RISE, WEST ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET AND SCOTT BASE, ANTARCTICA / ANIMATION
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK / CRARY ICE RISE, WEST ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET AND SCOTT BASE, ANTARCTICA / ANIMATION
- Country: UK
- Topics: Europe,Science
- Reuters ID: LVA002587516022026RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: An international team of scientists has drilled the longest sediment core from underneath hundreds of metres of ice, which they hope will give us a window into the history of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and tell us how it may behave in a future warming world.
The record-breaking core measures 228 meters and was retrieved from under 523 meters of ice at Crary Ice Rise, more than 700 kilometres from the nearest Antarctic base.
The project, part of the SWAIS2C (Sensitivity of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to 2°C), aims to provide crucial insights into the historical behaviour of the ice sheet and help us predict its future response to climate change.
"By going there and doing some drilling, we actually have a chance to basically use the record from underneath the ice, a bit like a time machine. So we can go back in time the further we go below the ground and that means we can look at times in the past when temperatures were one, two, three or maybe even four degrees warmer than they are today," Professor Tina van de Flierdt, head of the department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London and chief co-scientist of the overall project, told Reuters.
The vast West Antarctic Ice Sheet holds enough ice to raise global sea level by 4-5 m if it melts completely. Satellite observations over recent decades show the ice sheet is losing mass at an accelerating rate, but there is uncertainty around the temperature increase that could trigger rapid loss of ice.
Until now, ice sheet modellers have relied on geological records obtained next to the ice sheet, below floating ice shelves, sea ice and in the open Ross Sea and Southern Ocean.
The new sediment core provides a direct and comprehensive record of how this margin of the ice sheet has behaved during past periods of warmth.
"The site we got the sediment core from is really far inland at the moment, so several hundred kilometres inland, away from the ocean at the moment. So we're hoping that we can figure out exactly how much warming you have to apply to Antarctica to get all of that ice gone, and to have this site, which is at the moment really far inland under 500 meters of ice, to be open water," Dr Jim Marschalek, a Research Associate at Imperial College London, told Reuters.
The team used a hot-water drill to melt a hole through 523 m of ice, then lowered more than 1300 m of ‘riser’ and ‘drill string’ pipe down the hole. Cores were pulled up in 3m lengths before being described, photographed, x-rayed and sampled.
The team of 29 scientists, drillers, engineers and polar specialists, lived in tents on the ice for 3 months, working shifts around the clock to make the best use of limited time on site.
Scientists say around 30cm of sea-level rise is unavoidable by the end of the century, but the increase may
be as much as 2 m if we follow a high-emissions pathway.
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