Paleo Slide Set: Heinrich Events: Marine Record of Abrupt Climate Changes in the Late Pleistocene
Winch lowering a piston core into the water.

Before we can discuss in greater detail what Heinrich events are and what scientists know about them, 
we need to first understand how scientists research this topic. Fundamental to any scientific endeavor 
is the collection of data. It would be impossible to understand, or even know about the existence of, 
Heinrich events without the high resolution marine sediment records that have provided a long and detailed 
history of changes in North Atlantic. While most historians rely on books and archives to do their research, 
geologists (think of them as earth historians) and paleoceanographers (ocean historians) rely on a different 
type of archive: long sediment cores taken from ships like the Hudson shown earlier and again here. 

Photo Credits:
Anne Jennings 
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado-Boulder Boulder, Colorado