What Are Ice Cores?

Ice cores are core samples taken from undisturbed glacial ice. They are similar to soil core samples, which provide information about the soil in a particular area. Ice cores are special, however, in that they allow us to look at our planet's climate history.

Samples are normally 10-13cm in diameter, and are cut into 1m lengths for processing and transportation purposes.

Initially ice cores were collected from Antarctica and Greenland, because both locations offered glaciers of immense size and depths that were ideal for researchers to collect undisturbed samples. A complete site sample can define a climate that is 100,000 to 400,000 years old.

Having samples from both tropical and arctic climates is important because the history of their different climates is valuable.