World-First Ice Archive to Guard Secrets of Melting Glaciers

Scientists on Wednesday sealed ancient chunks of glacial ice in a first-of-its-kind sanctuary in Antarctica in the hope of preserving fast-disappearing records of Earth's past climate for centuries to come. The two ice cores taken from Europe's Alps are the first to be stored in a purpose-built snow cave on the frozen continent.

Hosted at Concordia Station at 3,200 metres altitude, the ice sanctuary will protect the collection in natural cold storage at minus 52°C without any need for refrigeration. The goal of Ice Memory is to collect ice cores from large mountain glaciers around the world and then preserve them by storing in sanctuary.