Enduring harsh wind and snow, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) worked over a month on Purog Kangri Glacier, which lies in Tsonyi County, the highest-altitude county in China, averaging over 5,000 meters above sea level.
The ice core surpassed a previous record from 1992 when Chinese and American scientists drilled a 308.6-meter ice core in Xizang’s Ngari Prefecture, CAS reported.
Glaciers contain critical information about Earth's climate history.
"This ice core holds unique geographic and climatic insights, capturing long-term climate and environmental data specific to this area," said Xu Baiqing, deputy director of the CAS Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, who led the drilling.
During their study of Purog Kangri Glacier, which began in September, scientists identified it as the thickest glacier on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau after finding an ice field with a maximum depth of nearly 400 meters.
Lonnie Thompson, a member of the American Academy of Sciences and a foreign academician at CAS, joined the research in September.
"Glaciers are retreating globally. As they melt, the historical records stored in them disappear as well," Thompson told Xinhua during his visit to the research site. "Extracting and preserving ice cores is essential for safeguarding these records," he added.
The ice core drilling on Purog Kangri Glacier is part of China's second scientific expedition on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, launched in August 2017 and led by Yao Tandong, an academician of CAS.
Through measuring the glacier's thickness and extracting ice cores, scientists hope to better understand this extensive ice field in the mid-to-low latitudes and the environmental history it holds, gaining further insights into how global warming impacts glaciers, Yao explained.
