Jääpuursüdamikud

Jääpuursüdamikud, or ice core samples, are obtained by drilling into glaciers and ice sheets to extract cylindrical sections of ice. These cores act as invaluable archives of Earth's past climate and atmospheric conditions. Each layer of ice represents a snowfall from a specific year, trapping air bubbles, dust particles, volcanic ash, and other environmental markers. By analyzing these inclusions, scientists can reconstruct historical temperatures, atmospheric gas concentrations like carbon dioxide and methane, volcanic activity, and even past vegetation.

The process of obtaining ice cores involves specialized drilling equipment that can penetrate thousands of meters of ice. Once extracted, the cores are carefully transported to laboratories where they are meticulously sectioned and analyzed. The age of the ice is determined through various dating techniques, such as counting annual layers or using radioactive isotopes. The composition of the trapped air bubbles provides direct measurements of past atmospheric composition, offering a unique insight into the greenhouse gas levels that have driven climate change throughout history.

Studying jääpuursüdamikud has significantly advanced our understanding of climate dynamics, past warming and cooling periods, and the impact of human activities on the atmosphere. They provide crucial data for climate modeling and projections, helping scientists predict future climate scenarios. The longest ice core records, such as those from Antarctica and Greenland, can extend back hundreds of thousands of years, offering a remarkable continuous record of Earth's climate history.