In order to extract information from ice with respect to mass balance studies and palaecoclimate various techniques are applied, ranging from complex labaratory measurments to remote sensing and modelling.
Data on ice microstructure (e.g. grain sizes and shapes, crystal orientations) from ice cores are essential to understand the dynamic flow of an ice sheet by the deformation of ice and its mechanisms as well as the evolution of ice and pore structures on the micro-scale.