Translated from www.people.com  30^th, August

Out reporter, closely following the Sino-US joint expedition to the Tibetan Plateau, recently witnessed an important progress made by the scientific staff. After hours of hard work, they succeeded in drilling a six-meter long ice core, which would help scientists to unveil the historical environment and climatic information recorded in the Namunani Glacier.

As an important carrier of geo-environmental change, ice cores favor scientists with its perfect storage for information, high resolution, long record sequence and large amount of information. All the materials in the atmosphere will follow the atmospheric circulation to the air above the glacier before they fell on the snow surface. Gradually they form an ice core record. Analysis to this record will help scientists in the following aspects: The ratio between H and O isotopes is the index of temperature. The net accumulation pace suggests precipitation. The ingredients and their quantity within the bubbles of the ice core tell the evolution history of atmospheric elements. The isotopes contributing to the formation of universe provide a proof for the variation in universal radiation lines, solar activities, and strength of geomagnetic space. The content of micro-particles and various chemical factors in ice cores will help to understand such issues as atmospheric aerosol, evolution of the desert and plants, bio-activity, strength of atmospheric circulation and volcanic activities in different periods. On top of those, ice core record also unveils the influence and other information of human activity to climatic environment.

Fully aware of the significance of ice cores in scientific research, scientists would carry the thirty-kilogram manual equipment up the mountain. Chinese and American scientists took turns to operate the drilling tool in freezing weather. While the procedure moved ahead at a pace of 40cm an hour, Prof Yao and Prof. Thompson knelt down on the snow to collect ice samples in vacuum packets. At the same time, they jotted scientific statistics down on their notes.

This process last from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. When the six meter long ice core, with 68 samples in it was collected, Prof. Yao said happily that these ice core samples would be brought back for lab study and quantitative analysis. Scientists hope to discover the environmental and climate change on the Plateau from them.