Ice Core
Credit: Denis Finnin
Interactions among the oceans and atmosphere create the climate and cause the weather that we experience each day. This section of the Hall explores the workings of the atmosphere and oceans, and how they interact to determine global climate and weather patterns. Other topics covered include the effects of atmospheric gases on global warming; the ozone layer; and the relationship between sunlight and the reflective properties of polar ice and volcanic gas clouds.
In a unique collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory, the American Museum of Natural History produced a series of interactive videos that illustrate how numerical modelling can be used to investigate and to envision how parts of the Earth work that we cannot see.
The Hall also houses one of the world's best records of climate change — three one-meter-long sections of a rare ice core from Greenland that hold detailed information about changes in Earth's climate dating as far back as 115,000 years. Ice sheets form when snow accumulates at high latitude in the polar regions, and the weight of the piling snow compresses the deeper layers into ice. Air trapped within the ice, along with the composition of the ice itself, creates a high-resolution archive of atmospheric gases, dust, and other chemicals present during the time period when the snow fell and the subsequent ice layer was created. Scientists drill into the ice sheet to retrieve a core sample and then analyze the details in the ice to determine variations in precipitation, temperature, and atmospheric conditions over time. Through analyses, researchers can build a detailed record of climate, identifying glacial periods, how quickly they began and ended, and the state of the environment during warm and cold periods. The ice even records events such as individual volcanic eruptions, such as the 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius, and the implementation of the 1974 Clean Air Act.
The Museum's ice core samples are displayed in a specially refrigerated case, and kept at a temperature of minus four degrees Fahrenheit (-20 C). The segments are from three different depths: 1325.5-1326.5 meters (7,625 years old); 1689-1690 meters (12,050 years old); and 2708-2709 meters (91,100 years old). Included in this exhibit is a computer interactive that lets the user study this fantastic climate record in detail.
