EastGRIP

EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 10: Coen Hofstede and Martin Leonhard of the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) use an explosive force (detonation cord) to trigger elastic seismic waves that will be detected and recorded by Prof Andreas Fichtner of the EastGRIP camp on August 10, 2022. The recorded reflections reveal the structure and material below the ice. Since the structure and bed of the ice sheet largely control the ice flow, understanding what lies below the ice helps predict...
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EASTGRIP CAMP, GREENLAND - AUGUST 10: Coen Hofstede and Martin Leonhard of the East Greenland Ice-Core Project (EastGRIP) use an explosive force (detonation cord) to trigger elastic seismic waves that will be detected and recorded by Prof Andreas Fichtner of the EastGRIP camp on August 10, 2022. The recorded reflections reveal the structure and material below the ice. Since the structure and bed of the ice sheet largely control the ice flow, understanding what lies below the ice helps predict how fast the ice flows and thus how much the glacier contributes to a sea-level rise. EastGRIP is an international science station on the Greenland ice sheet, the second-largest ice body in the world after the Antarctic ice cap. The team at EastGRIP, led by the University of Copenhagen in coordination with the Danish Centre for Ice and Climate and other partners, aims to drill through 2650 meters of ice dating back 80,000 years, to glean new knowledge of ice-sheet dynamics and how fast-flowing ice streams will contribute to sea-level rise. The resulting ice core will also create a new record of past climatic and atmospheric conditions from the northeastern part of the Greenland Ice Sheet, informing our understanding of how it may respond to a changing climate. This summer marked the first season of fieldwork since 2019, after the Covid-19 pandemic caused the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 field seasons. After two months of preparation this spring, the drilling operation started on July 7th and ended on August 6th, yielding a new 300 meters of core and reaching a maximum depth of 2418.23 meters. That puts them under 250 meters from their target depth, which the team aims to achieve next year. (Photo by Lukasz Larsson Warzecha/Getty Images)
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