Ice Cores: By Land and by Sea

Ice coring is a primary technique for polar scientists studying Earth’s climate, both past and present, as well as for understanding air-ocean-land interactions. Although there are similarities in extracting glacial and sea ice cores, the scientific questions these cores help answer are quite different. What can we learn about past climate from two-mile thick ice? How do brine channels provide pathways for salts moving between the ocean and the atmosphere? In this hands-on course, we will learn the different analysis techniques used to study ice cores, and pursue group research questions using ice cores from both Antarctica and the Arctic.