India, May 25 -- A joint China-Nepal scientific expedition has completed the first full-depth ice core drilling at the summit of Mt Everest to collect samples for understanding climate and environmental changes in ultra-high-altitude areas.

Members of the joint expedition conducted scientific sampling work, including ice core drilling, on the world's tallest mountain at an altitude of 8,848.86 metres.

It took about two hours for the expedition team on Thursday to complete the first-ever full-depth ice core extraction from the summit, China's state-run Global Times reported.

The team collected ice core and snow core samples across multiple altitude gradients on the way down.

The samples will be transported to laboratories under low-tem...