Image
Person takes a photo in a snowy landscape with European flags in the background.

Pioneers on ice

Deep in the ice, crucial information for our future lies perfectly preserved. That's why scientists on the 'Beyond EPICA—Oldest Ice' expedition are drilling for ice cores in Antarctica that will let them look 1.5 million years into the past. But the extreme climate poses great challenges for both scientists and technical equipment.

SL-System goes Beyond Epica

One of the coldest place on earth is in Antarctica—on the East Antarctic Plateau to be exact. In this extreme landscape, where temperatures can drop below -80°C, is the 'Little Dome C' camp: the site of the 'Beyond EPICA—Oldest Ice' expedition. More than 1,000km from the coast and 3,233m above sea level, researchers from all over the world are drilling for the oldest ice on the planet. Using special core Drillers, the research team will work until 2026 to uncover—metre by metre and century by century—invaluable records of the Earth's climate history. These will be used to provide unique insights into today's climate situation.

When it comes to the documentation of this eternal ice project, researchers are taking things into their own hands. The requirement? A reliable and robust camera system, tested specially in advance for the expedition in a cold lab: the Leica SL-system. In November 2021, scientists set off for the South Pole with a Leica SL2, an SL2-S and three SL-Vario lenses. Since then, the SL-system has held its own under extreme conditions, capturing the progress of research and the remarkable living conditions at the camp in Antarctica. And it still hasn't reached its limits, not even at -60° C.

Image
Beyond Epica Slider_1_01_1740x1160.jpg
Image
Beyond Epica Slider_1_02_1740x1160.jpg
Image
Beyond Epica Slider_1_03_1740x1160.jpg
Image
Beyond Epica Slider_1_04_1740x1160.jpg
Image
Beyond Slider_1_05_1740x1160.jpg
Image
Beyond Slider_1_06_1740x1160.jpg
Image
Beyond_Slider_1_07_1740x1160.jpg
Image
Beyond_Slider_1_08_1740x1160.jpg
Image
Beyond_Epica_Slider_1_09_1740x1160_NEW.jpg
Image
Beyond_Carlo_Barbante_1to1_v2.jpg
When I asked Stefan Daniel, the Executive Vice President of Technology and Operations, what Leica expected from us he said, 'go ahead and put the Leica through its paces'. So that's what we did.
Carlo Barbante, Institute of Polar Sciences
Image
Beyond_Epica_Parallax_3840x2160.jpg

75.29948° S, 122.44460° E

Before the project could even begin, tonnes of material had to be pulled 1100 km through the ice desert on gigantic sledges, for construction of the camp. This required highly specialised know-how, skilled craftsmanship and improvisational talent. Many of the tools even had to be made on site by the engineers. 

Image
Beyond_Epica_Slider_2_01_1740x1160.jpg
Image
Beyond_Epica_Slider_2_02_1740x1160.jpg
Image
Beyond_Epica_Slider_2_03_1740x1160.jpg
Image
Beyond_Epica_Slider_2_04_1740x1160.jpg
Image
Beyond_Epica_Slider_2_05_1740x1160.jpg
Image
Beyond_Epica_Slider_2_06_1740x1160.jpg
Image
Beyond_Epica_Slider_2_07_01_1740x1160.jpg
Image
Beyond_Epica_Slider_2_07_02x_1740x1160.jpg
Image
Beyond_Epica_Slider_2_08_1740x1160.jpg
Image
Beyond_Epica_Slider_2_09_1740x1160.jpg
Image
Beyond_Epica_Slider_2_10x_1740x1160.jpg
Image
Beyond_Epica_Carlo_Barbante_1to1.jpg
We used our 14-day quarantine to take a comprehensive SL-System introductory course via Zoom. We immediately fell in love with the cameras.
Carlo Barbante, Institute of Polar Sciences
Image
Beyond-Epica-Logo.jpg

Beyond Epica – Oldest Ice

More than ten years ago, the 'EPICA' project succeeded in recovering and analysing an 800,000-year-old ice core. Now, with the European Commission-funded project 'Beyond EPIC—Oldest Ice', researchers are attempting, by 2026, to travel even further into the past—1.5 million years back. The ice seamlessly archives the climate and environmental history of the earth, storing information about temperature, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and past temperature changes. This data is essential for understanding our climate and for developing strategies to mitigate current climate change. Find out more on the 'Beyond EPICA' website. It’s got all you need to know about the project, including daily updates.     

Image
Beyond-Epica_Hero_Image_new.jpg

The Leica SL-System

All the photos, taken by Carlo Barbante (CNR-ISP) and Thomas Stocker (University of Bern), for the Beyond EPICA project are copyrighted by the Italian National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA) and the French Polar Institute (IPEV). The project is supported by IPEV and the PNRA at the Italian-French Concordia Station.