Mount ararat: A team of German researchers has conducted the first comprehensive scientific survey of the glacier on the summit of Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey. Turkish media reported today that the expedition worked during July at an altitude of over 5,000 meters above sea level, in harsh conditions characterized by extreme cold, strong winds, and low air density, where the oxygen level was less than half of its normal level. For two weeks, the scientists studied an ice field that had remained a "white spot" in scientific research until now. Their main objective was to determine whether the glacier on Turkey's highest peak holds a unique record of climate and the history of human activity.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, using radar and seismic survey techniques, the team was able to create a map of the ice thickness and identify the optimal drilling location, paving the way for the extraction of the first ice core in the history of Mount Ararat. The ice resembles a multi-layered natural archive, as it may contain bubbles of ancient atmospheric gases, dust particles, traces of volcanic eruptions, and perhaps remnants of minerals from ancient smelting furnaces, in addition to ash dating back to the beginnings of agricultural activity. According to Dr. Achim Lichtenberger of the University of Mnster, these samples represent a new and important source of data for archaeology.

Mount Ararat lies at the crossroads of Anatolian, Mesopotamian, and Caucasian civilizations, but the glacier covering it is melting due to global warming, threatening the permanent loss of this unique natural archive. The glacier's importance extends beyond preserving cultural imprints; it also holds invaluable data for glaciology, including samples of the ancient atmosphere, dust particles, and traces of past volcanic eruptions. This data will help scientists accurately reconstruct the region's climate history, including periods such as the Roman Optimal Period and the Late Little Ice Age.