Paleo Slide Set: Low Latitude Ice Cores: High Resolution Records of Climatic Change and Variability 
in the Tropics and Subtropics
Ice Core rigging

Major research efforts like Quelccaya require international cooperation. As the flags on these meteorological 
stations at the 5670 m summit demonstrate, both Peruvian and American scientists played a crucial role in this 
research effort.

The meteorological stations monitored current weather conditions. Instruments such as these provide efficient 
and precise measurements of current climate. Unfortunately, instrumental records of climate cover only the 
last few centuries in Europe and North America, and even less in most other parts of the world. While ice cores 
cannot provide information as detailed as that produced by these weather stations, they perform much the same function. 
By looking at the chemical and physical information contained in ice records, scientists are able to unlock crucial 
clues to Earth's climate history.

* N.B. While the Little Ice Age has been 'identified' in dozens of climate records, the timing of the event has 
varied from site to site, as has its intensity; in other words, the Little Ice Age should not be thought of 
as a discrete global climatic event, but rather as a period during which different parts of the planet experienced 
cold events of varying duration and age. 

Photo Credits:
Lonnie Thompson 
Byrd Polar Research Center, The Ohio State University