Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 12/08/2009 - 18:23
Forums
Dissolved Organic Matter in Antarctica
   Hello, I am a student from Twin Falls High School in Idaho.  I was wondering how long it took the team to take an ice core from the top of the glacier on December 7th.  Thank you.
Fri, 12/11/2009 - 09:59

Sarah Diers

Thanks so much for the great question. You know, I thought that taking an ice-core from the glacier would take hours of back-breaking work, but each one of the two one-meter cores only took 10 minutes to twist and pull out of the glacier. The corer we used is made of very lightweight materials that seem to just cut through the ice like butter.
Unfortunately, the day we were coring on the glacier, the sun was shining bright, which made the glacier surface warm and almost slushy. Our ice cores came out in pieces as a result. It is much easier to core when the ice is crisp and solid. Then the cores come out in one solid piece.
Keep cool, Sarah