SPEAKER | Dr. Robert Mulvany, British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge
ABSTRACT | Our knowledge of the link between climate and greenhouse gases comes from ice cores from the Polar Regions. The ice records climate change through the isotopes of water, while bubbles of air trapped in the ice are archives of the past atmosphere. The ‘gold standard’ record comes from Concordia Station on the East Antarctic plateau, where the European EPICA project showed the close link between climate and the atmosphere spanning 800,000 years, and eight glacial cycles. The dominant glacial cycle is linked to the ~100,000 year orbital eccentricity, yet marine sediment climate records show that beyond one million years, the dominant cycle is the ~41,000 year orbital obliquity.
This talk will show how we drill the ice, and learn about the climate and why we need to find ice older
