An ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet or a high

mountain glacier. Cores are drilled with hand augers (for shallow holes) or powered
drills; they can reach depths of over two miles, and contain ice up to 800,000
years old. The physical properties of the ice and of material trapped in it can be
used to reconstruct the climate over the age range of the core. The ratio of oxygen
and hydrogen isotopes provides information about ancient temperatures, and the air
trapped in tiny bubbles can indicate the level of atmospheric gases such as carbon
dioxide. Greenland ice cores contain layers of wind-blown dust that correlate with
cold, dry periods in the past. Radioactive elements, either of natural origin or
created by nuclear testing, can be used to date the layers of ice. Some volcanic
events that were sufficiently powerful to send material around the globe have left
a signature in many different cores that can be used to synchronize their time
scales. Climate models can be constructed by piecing together all the available
data. (Full article...)

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Loggerhead Key
Loggerhead Key
... that Loggerhead Key (pictured) was home to the Tortugas Laboratory, which
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reefs?
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Berlin, and created the roles of a Nabokov Princess and a Henze Baroness?
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Latvia?
... that California High-Speed Rail's proposed Pacheco Pass Tunnel is expected to
become the longest rail tunnel in North America?
... that Heinrich Schtz published his Symphoniae sacrae I, a collection of 20
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... that Selna Kaplan led the first clinical trials of artificial growth hormone in
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