Ice core data

Abstract

Oard (2005) provides an excellent introductory overview of ice cores from the ice sheets at Greenland and Antarctica. The two great ice sheets presently existent on Earth are located where landmasses exist near the poles: Greenland and Antarctica. Both ice sheets store a huge amount of water, as indicated in Table 4.1. If the Antarctic ice sheet were to fully melt, the ocean level would rise about 68 meters. Full melting of the Greenland ice sheet would add another 7 meters. Since the average depth of the oceans is about 3,800 meters, there is considerably more water in the oceans than there is tied up in the ice sheets. However, the ice sheets account for about half the fresh water on the planet.