Martin's Antarctic Visit  
January 2004  

After removing the ice core from the hole it is laid on a black mat which serves as a work surface and helps to emphasize layering in the ice that is due to variations in light scattering from air bubbles and brine pockets. After the core has been photographed, holes are drilled along the length of the ice core at 10 cm intervals and a probe is inserted in each hole to measure the ice temperature. In this case, the temperature near the top of the core, the surface of the ice, is -3.6°C. After the temperatures have been measured the core is cut into 5 cm thick and 10 cm thick pieces, which are put in plastic bags and returned to the laboratory to melt. The salinity of the melted samples is measured the following day.

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