An international group of researchers excavated the ice at Little Dome C Field Camp in Antarctica, located 10,607 feet (3,233 meters) above sea level. They beamed radar down into the subsurface and used computer modeling of the ice flow to determine where this ancient ice was likely to be. And they were right.

By drilling 1.7 miles beneath the icy surface, the team has pulled a 1.2 million-year-old ice core from Antarctic bedrock. The gases trapped in the core are expected to yield "high-resolution" insights into Earth's climate history.

Analysis of the ancient ice is expected to show how Earth's atmosphere and climate have evolved. Scientists say it should provide insight into how Ice Age cycles have changed, and may help in understanding how atmospheric carbon changed climate.

Scientists have drilled 1.7 miles deep into Antarctica, pulling up an ice core sample that dates back at least 1.2 million years. They expect the sample to offer new insights into the evolution of Earth’s climate and atmosphere throughout history.

Antarctic ice, however, has been at it for over a million. An international team of scientists has extracted a 1.74-mile-long (2.8 kilometers) ice core in Antarctica, hitting the frozen continent’s bedrock.