2 Proposed Programme

To investigate the nature and origin of massive ground ice and to establish whether it has the potential to yield palaeoclimatic data, a set of shallow ice cores and samples are needed for chemical analysis and cosmogenic isotope dating. The pits to be cored should represent the known distribution of the massive ground ice. In addition to the ice core pit soil profiles will be obtained by sampling the pit walls and the surface material on site to clarify any possible relationship of the ice and the overlying sediments. Evaluation of analytical results may lead to further shallow core drilling of certain sites in the future.