The Laboratory is located on the Denver Federal Center campus. Scientists carefully examine the ice cores alloted to them. Samples of coral are used to determine the temperature of the water in which it grew. Fossil pollen helps identify the kinds of plants that were growing when the sediment was deposited in the glacial ice. Pollen grains have a distinct shape which enables scientists to determine the type of plant they came from.
Tree rings differ in pattern, width, and density depending on the cllimate conditions of the time.
Trees can grow for hundreds or thousands of years, and the rings preserve a record of these conditions. The cores also contain dust, ocean and lake sediments, air bubbles, or isotopes of oxygen, all which contribute to an understanding of the climate in which they were formed. The issue of global warming is one of the most important reasons to study climate change. But in order to be adequately prepared for coming changes, we need to learn how much the earth is warming, how long it has been warming, and the reasons for the change. Ice core research can answer these questions.