On a remote island in the Canadian Arctic, researchers have discovered the remains of an ancient glacier that could be over a million years old. The discovery represents what may be the oldest glacier ice ever found buried in permafrost — ground that has been frozen for at least 2 years straight — in the Arctic, researchers report in the January 1 Geology. For researchers keen on studying the glacier, the clock is ticking, as human-caused climate change has exposed the long-preserved ice to melting.
Like notes in the pages of a logbook, the gas bubbles, compounds and particulates trapped in a glacier’s icy layers can yield information about