Less than a week ago, on May 16, scientists with the Canadian Flagship project reached bedrock while drilling deep ice cores through the Müller Ice Cap on Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut. After a month of hard work under harsh Arctic conditions, they obtained a 613-metre ice core—the longest ever recovered in Canada or anywhere in the Americas.

Led by the University of Manitoba, the project brings together ice and climate researchers from across Canada, along with scientists from Denmark and Australia. This ice core provides a window into the climate dating back more than 10,000 years. Researchers will also examine whether it contains ice from the vast ice sheet that covered North America during the last ice age. The project will advance drilling technology in Canada, use novel methods to analyze the ice, and educate a new generation of climate scientists. Insights into past climate and sea ice extent gained from this project will contribute to better projections of future changes, benefiting Inuit communities in Nunavut and northern Canada.

Dr. Anaïs Orsi, Assistant Professor and polar climate scientist in the Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of British Columbia, studies greenhouse gases and mercury by pumping air out of the snow and firn to a depth of 60 m as part of this project. 

“This is the first time such measurements have been done on the Canadian ice caps and the results are looking very exciting,” said Dr. Orsi.

Read more about this achievement in The Globe and Mail: Scientists on remote island in Nunavut drill out the longest ice core in Canadian history

Dr. Orsi is also documenting their field exploration on her blog: Air and Ice: Firn air sampling and ice core drilling on Müller ice cap, Axel Heiberg Island. Check it out!

Anais Orsi sampling gas

Team 1 after Easter Egg hunt in the drill tent (Left to right: Emma, Grant, Dave, Sofia, Dorthe, Jaime, Shari, Ali, Etienne and Kevin)

Basal ice core with sand and pebbles

Ice core in the drill tent

Drone picture of the camp