A. Gas Age vs.

Ice Age
Age is calculated in two different ways within an ice core. The ice age is calculated from an
analysis of annual layers in the top part of the core, and using an ice flow model for the bottom
part. The gas age data accounts for the fact that gas is only trapped in the ice at a depth well
below the surface where the pores close up. Open the Vostok ice core data in Excel. Using a
scatterplot, plot both the ice age and the gas age on the y-axis as a function of depth on the
x-axis on the same graph. Correctly label the y- and x-axes with the proper units.
1) Paste the graph here.

2) What are the units of your x- and y-axes (i.e., what does ka mean?)
The depth of the ice is measured in meters and the age is in thousands of years(ka).

3) What are the depths of the shallowest and deepest data points?
For the rest of the lab, assume that the most-shallow ice core measurements represent the
environmental conditions in the 18th century before the Industrial Revolution.
The depth of the shallowest data point is 130 meters and the depth of the deepest data point is
2060 meters.

4) Does age increase or decrease down the core? Why?

Age increases down the core because the newer ice layers formed on top of the older ice layers
and therefore contain more recent climate data.

5) Why do the two age curves differ?

Bubbles of gas form after the ice, because bubbles can’t form unless they are below the surface
of the ice.

6) How much younger is a bubble of gas than the ice that surrounds it, at a depth of 250
meters?
The gas bubble is 2.52 thousand years younger.

7) Note that if you look carefully at the plot you can see that the curve changes slope between
the top and the bottom of the core. Why do you think that this happens?
Depending on Earth’s temperature at the time, more or less ice might form during a given time
period. If more ice forms, the layer for that time period would be thicker. This could affect the
amount that the age of the ice changes with depth.

B. δD as a proxy for temperature

Task 2: Next you will calculate the temperature based on the isotopic composition of the ice.
Insert a blank column into the table to the right of the delta-deuterium column (δD). Isotopic
ratios are used to model temperature. Calculate the temperature at Vostok based on the
following formula describing the empirical relationship between temperature and deuterium
concentration: Temperature (deg-C) = -55.5 + (δD + 440) / 6
Now, using a new scatterplot, plot your calculated temperature vs. ice age.
8) Paste your graph here.

9) How long ago did the maximum temperature occur? How long ago did the minimum
temperature occur?
The maximum temperature of -52.33 ℃ occurred about 133 thousand years ago. The minimum
temperature of -65.27 ℃ occurred roughly 20 thousand years ago.

10) How do these temperatures compare to the current Vostok temperature average (Google
“Vostok Station weather”)?
The current Vostok average temperature is about 55.1 ℃, closer to the maximum temperature
than the minimum temperature.

C. CO2, CH4, and Dust

11) Plot CO2 as a function of gas age. Paste your graph here.

12) How closely does the plot of CO2 resemble that of temperature?
The CO2 plot closely resembles that of temperature with many of the same trends, and CO2
seems to vary with temperature.

13) Now plot CO2 against temperature. Add a trendline and record the R2 value and equation,
then paste your graph here.
14) Based on your R2 value, do you think this correlation is significant?
The R2 correlation is 65% which means there is definitely a significant correlation here.

15) Make the same 2 plots for CH4, including the R2 value and equation on the temperature
graph. Paste them here.
16) Is CO2 or CH4 more closely correlated with temperature? Why do you think that is?
CO2 appears to be closely correlated with temperature. I tried to find out why this might be the
case, but everything I found suggested that the opposite should be true because carbon dioxide
lags more behind temperature changes.

17) Now make the same two plots for dust and paste them here.
18) How well do the changes in dust concentration correlate with the temperature changes?
The dust concentration has some correlation with temperature but it is not as strong as the
correlation for either CO2 or CH4.

19) Insert today's CO2 concentration (400 ppm) into the linear regression equation from
question #13 to determine what that past relationship between CO2 and temperature predicts
that today's temperature should be at Vostok. How does your calculation compare with the
known value (in question #10)?
My result gave me -36 degrees Celsius which was much higher than the actual temperature at
Vostok.

D. Conclusion Questions
20) How did conditions during the last glacial maximum (around 20,000 years ago) differ from
today's conditions?
The temperature was about 10 degrees Celsius cooler than it is today. There was significantly
less CO2 and CH4 in the atmosphere.

21) How do the glacial/interglacial changes (those shown on your figures) in temperature,
carbon dioxide, and methane compare to the changes since the 18th century (which we have
discussed in class)?
In previous times the temperature, CO2, and methane changed together. Now that humans are
increasing the CO2 and methane levels we are also seeing an increase in temperatures. Recent
changes have taken place more quickly than those in past years.

22) Why are these ice core paleoclimate records so important to our understanding and
prediction of climate change?
The paleoclimate records allow us to see which type of signals might have led to climate change
in the past, so that when we observe similar changes in the present day we may be able to see
what kind of changes are going to take place. Knowing how past changes took place also allows
us to see if our current climate change is any different from Earth’s natural climate cycles. Ice
cores specifically are important because they provide records of atmospheric content, which we
think is a major cause of our modern climate change. Ice core records also are reliable in that
the oldest ice is always on the bottom and the newest ice is on the top.