The Art and Science of Ice Cores
for use with the Ice Core Art Lesson Plan
Vanishing Ice: Alpine and Polar Landscapes, 1775-2012
The Science of Ice
How do glaciers form?
How do scientists use ice to learn about past climate?
How snow becomes ice
• Season after season, snow
falls and builds up over time.
• Each new snow weighs down
on the snow underneath it.
• The older layers get
compacted into a dense icy
layer called firn.
• Eventually the firn gets so
compacted it turns into solid
ice.
• The ice at the very bottom
has tiny air bubbles in it that
were trapped when it used to
be snow!
Ice can preserve ancient atmospheres
Snow builds up over time & creates ice
Ice can preserve ancient atmospheres
What is an Ice Core?
An ice core is a sample of ice taken from an ice sheet.
• Ice sheets are found in cold places like
Greenland, Antarctica, Iceland, and
Alaska.
• Even the Olympic Peninsula has its
own glacier!
Annual layers in ice cores can be compared with the rings of a tree
Ice cores show annual climate, temperature and atmosphere composition changes.
Tree rings provide information about climate, tree age and growth patterns.
Air bubbles inside the ice core tell scientists the story of the
earth in the very distant past
Ice Cores and Climate Change:
Carbon Dioxide concentration
Ice Core Art Activity
- Can you draw snowflakes, firn and ice?
- What do you think each would look like?
Transition of snow to ice