Scientists Survey Mount Ararat Glacier for Climate and Human History Clues

The glacier on Mount Ararat, Turkey's highest mountain, has been surveyed for the first time as scientists race to study its shrinking ice before more evidence is lost. Researchers believe the shrinking glacier could preserve valuable information about both climate change and human history. While archaeologists usually study objects buried in the ground, glacier ice can preserve information in layers that build up over thousands of years. However, this natural archive is disappearing quickly as global warming causes the ice cap to melt faster each year A German-Turkish team of researchers completed the survey in July at an altitude of more than 5,000 metres, where the team spent two weeks studying the ice despite harsh weather.

According to University of Munster, before drilling into the glacier, scientists first mapped it using ground-based radio echo sounding and active seismic surveys. These methods allow scientists to measure how thick the glacier is and study the shape of the land beneath the ice. This information is important because it helps them identify the best location to drill an ice core during a future expedition. Ice cores are long cylinders of ice removed from glaciers. Each layer of the ice represents snowfall from a different period, much like the rings inside a tree trunk record its age. By studying these layers, scientists can learn what conditions were like when the snow originally fell. "Despite wind and cold, we obtained all the data we need," says Dr Coen Hofstede of the Alfred Wegener Institute, who led the measurements during the expedition. "Now we can determine where to drill the longest continuous ice core," he adds. If the next expedition is successful, it will produce the first ice core ever collected from Mount Ararat.

Researchers say the glacier could become an important new source of information, especially for archaeologists. According to Prof Dr Achim Lichtenberger, the project leader from the University of Munster, it represents an entirely new source of data for archaeology. "So far, we have had to depend on what lies in the ground. The ice, on the other hand, could preserve a continuous chronicle of human activity, layer by layer over millennia," he says.

For glaciologists, the ice can also reveal details about the Earth's past environment. Layers of ice may contain information about the composition of the atmosphere at different times, dust carried by the wind and traces left behind by volcanic eruptions. Studying the glacier could help scientists understand how different climate periods influenced the region around Mount Ararat.

Mount Ararat's location makes it especially valuable for scientific study. The mountain stands at the meeting point of several regions that were home to some of the world's earliest civilisations. "This is the region where agriculture began, where early centres of mining and metallurgy emerged," says Professor Dr Unsal Yalcin of Isparta University in Turkey. The team hopes the glacier may contain more than climate records. "If we are lucky, we will find in the ice not only climate data but also fine metal particles from ancient smelting furnaces or residues from early slash-and-burn agriculture," Professor Yalcin says. According to Prof Yalcin, Mount Ararat could become an environmental archive for a much wider area, including Anatolia, Mesopotamia and the Caucasus.

The researchers say there is increasing urgency because the glacier is shrinking. As temperatures rise due to global warming, more of the ice melts every summer. When older layers disappear, the information stored inside them is lost permanently. That makes it important for scientists to study and collect ice cores before more of the glacier disappears. The recent expedition was therefore an important first step. By mapping the glacier, the team now knows where future drilling can take place. The project is led by the Institute of Classical Archaeology and Christian Archaeology at the University of Munster, with support from Isparta University in Turkey.