Before the core is drilled, we use ice flow models to estimate depth-age scales for the ice core, to estimate the temperature distribution in the ice, and to predict the shapes of internal layers.
Depth-age scale and annual layer thickness predictions help design sampling strategies for the ice core.
Ice temperature estimates indicate whether melting at the bed has caused loss of the oldest and deepest ice. In central Greenland, the bed has remained below freezing throughout the last glacial cycle.Ice flow studies also help determine to what extent the ice divide had migrated in the past. Migration of the flow center affects the thinning of the ice and the inferred paleo-temperatures and accumulation rates from the ice core record(Anandakrishnan et. al., 1994a).