Lecture: Frozen in time: ice cores and climate

Speaker: Professor Eric Wolff FRS, Science Leader (Chemistry and Past Climate) at British Antarctic Survey and Honorary Visiting Professor in School of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton

Entry Fee

Members: Free

Visitors: £5.00

Date and Time

19:30 -

Location

Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HN


Lecture Description

The polar ice sheets hold one of Earth’s great sedimentary records. By drilling ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica, we can obtain ice that fell as snow, extending back as far as 800,000 years in Antarctica and over 120,000 years in Greenland. Ice cores contain information about climate and numerous other environmental parameters; crucially the air bubbles trapped in the ice give access to the past composition of the atmosphere, including the greenhouse gas concentrations. In this talk. Prof. Wolff will first discuss the strengths and weaknesses of ice cores, and then demonstrate how ice cores are collected. He will then present a few examples of the knowledge we have gained from ice cores - about greenhouse gases, about glacial/interglacial cycles, and about rapid climate changes most likely induced by changes in ocean heat transport. Finally he will discuss prospects for obtaining even older ice in the future.


Attending via Zoom

This is a hybrid meeting: you can attend in person or join online via Zoom.

Bath Geological Society Members: Free of charge. Joining instructions and the Zoom link are sent to members by email prior to the lecture.

Visitors & Non-Members: (including members of the Geologists' Association and affiliated societies) Please book via Eventbrite to receive Zoom access (see the Entry Fee details above).

How to join: Click the Zoom link provided in your email or Eventbrite confirmation. You can join using the Zoom desktop or mobile app, or directly via your web browser without installing any software. The virtual waiting room opens approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled start time, and attendees will be admitted before the talk commences.

For any queries about joining online, please contact [email protected].



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