GreenDrill is a project co-led by the University of Buffalo to understand the Greenland Ice Sheet’s vulnerability to temperature changes by drilling to collect rock and sediment. The chemical signatures of these core samples provide data about the last time they were exposed to sunlight. Scientists have fewer such samples from under Greenland’s ice sheet than from the moon.

A GreenDrill study in Nature Geoscience reported that the Prudhoe Dome, a 1,600-foot-thick ice sheet in northwestern Greenland, completely melted about 7,000 years ago, much more recently than previously known. The findings suggest the ice cap is more sensitive to even modest warming than once thought and will help scientists better predict where melting may begin and which coastal areas face the greatest risk of rising sea levels.