The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) proposes drilling an approximately 2800 metre-deep ice core in the Little Dome C (LDC) region around 35 km south-west of the French-Italian Concordia Station and 1100 km inland of Australia’s Casey Station. This Initial Environmental Evaluation describes the potential environmental impacts associated with the three major components of the activity:

i. Inland Traverse between Casey Station and LDC required to support project logistics.

ii. Installation of the Million Year Ice Core (MYIC) Drilling Camp (‘Inland Station’) at LDC and occupation of the camp, from early December to early February only, for the duration of the project, and

iii. Ice core drilling using the AAD deep drill system.

The Australian Antarctic Division invites members of the public to submit comments on this document, and in particular to suggest additional, specific ways to reduce the proposal’s environmental impacts.

Comments to the AAD should be made in writing and emailed to: eia@aad.gov.au

Please ensure that any submissions are received by Close of Business on Friday 23 September 2022.

For more information, please contact the AAD Antarctic and Environmental Regulation Team at eia@aad.gov.au.

The objectives of the Traverse, Inland Station & Million Year Ice Core Project 2022-2028 are to recover a continuous ice core that extends to well over a million years ago. The current oldest continuous ice core is the 800,000 year record from EPICA Dome C. Recovery of the MYIC will advance understanding of the physical processes and climate feedbacks involved in this non-linear shift in the climate system.