What do snowpacks and ice cores tell us about seasonal variation in weather?
Once snow falls to the ground, it begins a process of change. Pressure, temperature and moisture change the form of the snowflake’s crystals and the texture. Additional snowfalls, rain or sleet, and daytime surface melting followed by nighttime freezing all contribute to the changes. Studies of the snowpack are essential to protect people from the death and devastation of avalanches and flooding from spring melts. The layers of snow also preserve evidence of weather change and can be analyzed the way a geologist analyzes layers of rock. Year to year comparisons can help to understand climate change. Information from ice cores helps scientists understand how Earth’s climate has varied over time. In the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2, or GISP2, scientists drilled an ice core from the summit of the Greenland ice sheet all the way down to bedrock. A total of 10,116 feet (3,053 meters) of ice was retrieved. The process took five years to complete! This ice core records the past 110,000 years
