First author

Glacial ice can shed light on the climate and atmospheric composition found on early Earth. But until recently, only one glacial period — up to 420,000 years ago — was covered by sufficient data. That is now changing thanks to a new core, going back 800,000 years and covering eight glacial cycles, which was drilled from Antarctica by an international team of scientists. As revealed on page 491 of this issue, this ice core has provided data that run counter to earlier understanding — and that will have implications for climate modellers. Nature spoke to Eric Wolff from the British Antarctic Survey based in Cambridge, UK, to find out more.

What is the big picture you have derived for the eight glacial cycles?

Every time it is colder there is more sea ice, which is not so surprising. When it gets colder, there is more dust from South America; when it goes from cold to warm, there is less dust during the transition. The dust changes first and the sea ice second. Both of those are factors that, in themselves, alter the climate by changing the amount of carbon going into the ocean. It's a link to know how the natural carbon cycle works. You need to know the amount of sea ice and dust. The data will provide information for new models.

What did this project teach you about doing science?

You need a lot of people working together. Just getting an ice core like this is a very big undertaking and interpreting it is, too. It will be several years before all the interpretation is done.

What was it like working in Antarctica?

It was a cold, remote place, 1,000 kilometres from the coast. We had about 40 people from 10 different countries. It is exciting to be working in that international programme. It's exciting to be bringing up ice that shows periods of climate that no one has ever seen in this way before.

What did you do in the field?

I spent a lot of time chopping up the ice into different sections, to be sent back to different laboratories. We used manual band saws, the kind you find in wood or metal workshops — nothing particularly high-tech. Then we put the samples into plastic bags and sent them to various labs in insulated boxes.

You spent two periods of ten weeks in Antarctica. What did you do when you returned?

The first thing I did when I got back to Christchurch, New Zealand, the project's staging area, was to take a hot bath, change into clean clothes and enjoy a glass of wine.