Air-hydrate inclusions have been found in deep ice cores from Dye 3, Greenland, which were taken in August 1981. Although the concentration of the air-hydrate crystals decreased with time, when the core was stored at a temperature of −50 °C, they still existed to an appreciable extent in 1985.

An ice specimen was cut out from the Dye 3 core at a depth of 1500 m, where the volume fraction of the hydrate crystals was about 10−3 by volume. Its dielectric properties were measured in September 1985, in a frequency range of 30-20 × 103 Hz and temperature range of −20° to −90°C. The activation energy obtained for the relaxation time of the Debye dispersion was about 0.2 eV, which is much smaller than that of pure ice.

The measurement was repeated once a month for about a year, and the sample was stored at a temperature of −10 °C between measurements. The time variation of the dielectric properties has been discussed in relation to the deterioration of the air-hydrate crystals.