Kiwi scientists are among a team of international researchers who have successfully drilled nearly 600 metres deep into the West Antarctic ice sheet in a bid to uncover its secrets.
The group is aiming to retrieve sediment, which will help them better understand how much global warming the Ross Ice Shelf can withstand before it collapses.
The team yesterday reached the 586 metre mark, hitting the ocean cavity.
"This is a really monumental achievement," Antarctica NZ chief scientific advisor Jordy Hendrikx said.
"They have managed to break through with a hot water drill through to the bottom of the Ross Ice Shelf."
The challenge now is to keep the hole open so that a further 200 metres of seabed can be drilled into, capturing the vital sediment.
"What would happen if we stand back and watch it is slowly, that hole is going to freeze right back over again," he said.
The sediment will provide clues as to what the climate looked like during the inter glacial period – the last time the planet was 2C above pre-industrial levels. Scientists hope to establish whether the West Antarctic ice sheet collapsed then.
The drill site is about 1000 kilometres from Scott Base.
No one has ever drilled deep into the Antarctic seabed at a location so far from a major base, and so close to the centre of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
"This is an area we know less of than the moon."
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