SWAIS2C’s third season is underway

It’s all go for our 2025/26 season! The Antarctica New Zealand traverse arrived at Crary Ice Rise (CIR) on Friday 21 November, after a 13-day, 1100km journey across the Ross Ice Shelf. The convoy of PistenBully polar vehicles towed equipment and supplies for the season, including 27-30 tonnes of drilling and science equipment, and 3.5 tonnes of food.

The six team members are now busy building the camp and preparing a skiway in the snow so that our drill and science team can fly in on ski planes. Our drill team have arrived at Scott Base, have completed field training and kit out, and will head out to CIR when weather permits.

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Deepest-ever rock core extracted from under Antarctic ice sheet

Deepest-ever rock core extracted from under Antarctic ice sheet

18 February 2026

Analyses will help to reveal how far the West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreated in the past — and what it might do in the future.

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Scientists Drilled Into Antarctic Ice Until They Met Bedrock, Then Got A 228-Meter Sample Of Sediment

Scientists Drilled Into Antarctic Ice Until They Met Bedrock, Then Got A 228-Meter Sample Of Sediment

18 February 2026

Scientists have just got their hands on a 228-metre (748-foot) core sample from the muddy bedrock beneath West Antarctica’s chunky ice sheets. Inside the record-breaking sample, they discovered fossils of marine organisms that date from a time when this area was an open, ice-free ocean.

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