US scientists have reconstructed a 40,000-year record of wind
conditions at the South Pole.

They assembled the climate data by measuring the distribution of dust
layers seen in two ice boreholes.

A comparison of the layers allowed the University of
California-Berkeley team to gauge how rough snow surfaces would have
been in ancient times.

The researchers then used this "proxy" to assess the probable strength
of wind needed to produce those features.

More at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6199834.stm