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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Andrew HendersonORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
The Nam Co Drilling Project (NamCore) aims to retrieve and interpret one of the longest sedimentary records of past climate and environmental changes from the Earth’s third Pole - the Tibetan Plateau. As a result of vast glacial systems, permafrost, and large lakes, the Tibetan Plateau contributes to the “Asian Water Tower” and feeds river systems (e.g., Brahmaputra, Yangtze) that supply water to almost 2 billion people downstream. NamCore will shed light on the response of the Asian Monsoon system(s) and the Westerlies to variable climate boundary conditions in the past and thereby provide a better understanding of future climate change scenarios with socio-economic significance. Nam Co, one of the largest and deepest lakes on the Tibetan Plateau, represents an ideal natural archive to record the temporal development of large-scale atmospheric circulation systems due to its location close to the northern boundary of the modern monsoon regime. Comprehensive site survey seismic data suggest a >700-m-thick infill of well-layered, undisturbed sediments in the depocentre of the lake. Scientific drilling operation at Nam Co was realised through matching funds from the ICDP, ITPCAS, DFG, Swiss NSF, China NSFC and UK NERC funding agencies in June to July 2024. Drilling at high altitude (4718 m asl) in remote Tibet required extensive preparation, including the establishment of a camp on the northern shoreline of the lake. The project drilled a total of 1415.45 m, cored 1175.99 m sediments and recovered 950.77 m of sediment cores, with a maximum drill depth of 510.2 m below the lake floor.
Author(s): Adolph M-L, Wang J, Zhu L, Clarke LJ, Henderson ACG, Vogel H, Hofmann P, Ju J, Kunkel C, Noren A, Schnurrenberger D, Spiess V, Thomas C, Ulfers A, Haberzettl T
Publication type: Report
Publication status: Published
Series Title: ICDP Operational Report
Year: 2026
Pages: 41
Print publication date: 24/04/2026
Online publication date: 22/04/2026
Acceptance date: 20/03/2026
Institution: GFZ Data Services
Place Published: Postdam
URL: https://doi.org/10.48440/ICDP.5073.001
DOI: 10.48440/ICDP.5073.001
