Ice cores

  

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Over 120 ice cores, at more than 30 sites were taken for analysis. Typically four cores were were taken at each site; one for temperature, salinity, and oxygen isotopes; one for structural analysis; and two for biology. A Sipre 3-inch core barrel was used. The cores were drilled by hand to avoid contamination by oil and gasoline.

Vertical thin sections were made from the structure cores. These thin sections were photographed using transmitted natural light and through crossed-polaroids to analyze the crystallographic structure of the ice. The relative amounts of granular and columnar ice were determined. Averaging all cores together there was 66% granular ice and 34% columnar. The structural analysis of the thin sections was performed by A.J. Gow.

Core results can be accessed via the ice core summary table.