By analyzing the chemical composition of the layers of a huge Antarctic ice cylinder, scientists go back 11,000 years in Earth’s history
The white vastness of Antarctica may seem empty, but it hides precious evidence of the Earth’s past. Scientists at the University of Colorado at Boulder used cylinders of ice – also called cores or cores – to unravel changes in the chemical composition of the Earth’s atmosphere and temperature.
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In January this year, the team of researchers presented a study carrying data up to 11,000 years ago, demonstrating connections between seasonal temperature cycles in Antarctica and variations in solar radiation intensity. “This is the first record of its kind,” says Tyler Jones, who led the study.
Through the observed amount of isotopes – variants of the same chemical element but with different numbers of neutrons in their atomic nuclei – experts are able to infer average temperatures in the past: the hotter and heavier the more frequent isotopes of hydrogen .
Research has linked temperature increases in the Antarctic summer with the Milankovitch cycles: variations in the earth’s orbit that favor the arrival of solar radiation. The study validated this connection, responsible for long-term climate changes, different from the current ones, caused by human activities.
Deciphering the information contained in the ice is not an easy task. Periods with little snow can leave cores with data gaps, as they result in layers that are too thin to analyze. The measurements taken by the scientists were made every 5 millimeters of the extracted ice cylinder, which would represent a few weeks of snowfall.
Understanding the natural variations in the Earth’s climate is important for accurately identifying what is not natural. Jones hopes that studying him with ice cores will help and encourage the like. ‘We can learn a lot by focusing on seasonal weather in the future,’ he says, ‘provided we can get data.’
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Source: Terra
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