Since the start of paleoclimatology in the seventies, world climatic changes have been highlighted in different ways. Access to past atmospheric composition, via bubbles trapped in ice cores, gets reachable greenhouse gas concentrations, required condition for establishment of a pattern of the past climate. Indeed, since the publication of variations for the last climatic cycle, in the ice cores of Vostok, our knowledge have significantly improved thanks to the development of new methods & thanks to the analysis of former cycles. Nevertheless, improvements in technical equipments and approaches indicate that the best is yet to come, especially in terms of mechanisms. Concerning the marine field, the IMAGES programme has particularly provided long carrots of good quality, whose have allowed us to compare on trust marine data and ice cores. Besides, they enable us to improve the understanding of ocean past dynamic, especially this linked to the massive melt of icebergs in the oceans, affected the North-Atlantic traffic. Finally, concerning the continental field, different environments are analysed and give data similar to the past climate: lakes, peat lands, speleothemes & of loess. All data are compatible, and supply Earth models required for a better understanding of the dynamic of the past climate.

However, better data can’t be obtained without sophisticated technical equipment necessary to the extraction of high-quality carrots. Stress puts recently on climatic variations of the last millenniums, makes possible the link with the current measured factors, but such data don’t exist for more contrasted climate periods. Technical restriction of recent equipments is not able to get to better quality data, and so to better knowledge, firstly of past climatic variations to extremely high resolution, and secondly, of performance of the different fields studying for example in the GIEC experiences while societal demands are more and more expressed by decision-makers.

National Centre drilling and coring (C2FN) brings together and coordinates the coring equipments located in the CNRS (National Centre for Scientific Research) laboratories or at the Technical Division of INSU (National Institute of Universe Sciences). The promotion of the results are published in first-class scientific journals and presented in the most important scientific meetings. Otherwise, technical improvements and developments carried out for coring activities are likely to lead to filed patents as far as DT does in its researches. Technical restriction of recent equipments forbids French teams to compete efficiently international teams.

Yet, French expertise is reputed as leader in this area, but technical developments developing abroad too, that leadership is compromised, as are leadership opportunities of French researchers in international programmes.

CLIMCOR’s project aims to give to the French scientific community a high-level technical support, additional to the Equipex ASTER-CEREGE, high-level analytic project. CLIMCOR will be in the French scientific community in a competitive position at an international level. Although the C2FN teams gather famous technicians in their respective fields, the strong interactions with French companies are a daily routine. This interaction with exchange of skills is typical of an exceptional know-how, whose international recognition can only take advantage to the concerned economic sectors.

Official document (in French) of CLIMCOR’s launch day :