A team of multinational scientists will establish a temporary lab in Antarctica in the coming Australian summer, in an attempt to learn how the molecule hydroxyl affects air quality.

A team of 10 researchers from six science groups will live in the “ice lab” at Law Dome near Casey Station for three months in 2019.

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“Researchers will drill ice cores to depths of 250 meters to measure pre-industrial atmospheric levels of hydroxyl, which has never been done before,” a spokesperson said.

The mission was launched to find traces of hydroxyls, which are natural “air purifiers” that act like a “detergent” against greenhouse gases by destroying pollutants and removing them from the atmosphere.

The video above shows the journey to the lab, the building of the lab and ice drilling, which was carried out to find hydroxyl deposits in the ice. The hydroxyl content will provide data about how greenhouse gases change over time. JB

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