Simple glaciological conditions at Dome C in east Antarctica have made possible a more detailed and accurate interpretation of an ice core to 950 m depth spanning some 32,000 yr than that obtained from earlier ice cores. Dated events in comparable marine core has enabled the reduction of accumulation rate during the last ice age to be estimated. Climatic events recorded in the ice core indicate that the warmest Holocene period in the Southern Hemisphere occurred at an earlier date than in the Northern Hemisphere.

Supplement to: Lorius, C; Pourchet, M; Merlivat, Liliane; Jouzel, Jean (1979): A 30,000 yr isotope climatic record from Antarctic ice. Nature, 280, 644-648