120-meter Antarctica ice core drill accomplished

Zhongshan Station, Antarctica (CNS) -- China's 28th expedition to Antarctica drilled an ice core sample 120 meters down from the surface, a step towards the goal of obtaining a sample of ice core 3,000 meters down in ice dome A, or Dome Argus, on the peak of the Antarctic ice cover, 4,093 meters above the sea level, CNS reported on Sunday.

The mission is to obtain an ice core formed more than one million years ago for paleoclimate records and samples of ancient atmospheric conditions, according to the expedition.

The project will last three weeks or longer. Measures and observations related to astronomy, surveying, ice radar, magnetometer and natural earthquakes will be conducted.