Students build this drill model and then teach others about how ice cores are retrieved from under the ice sheets in Greenland and in Antarctica.
It is difficult to visualize what is happening underneath the ice sheets when the core barrel disappears down the borehole. This model helps students understand the drilling process and demonstrates the basics of how scientists and drillers retrieve ice cores from miles beneath the surface. The graphic part of the model represents the different layers of ice that the drill cuts through as it advances deep under the ice. Scientists study the air bubbles trapped in the ice to understand how Earth’s climate has changed in the past and how it may change in the future.