Chemical analyses of ice cores from Vestfonna, Nordaust‐landet, have suggested that samples obtained from the upper 25 m of the glacier contain excessive concentrations of some heavy metals, especially Zn, Pb, Cu and sulphates. This is related to the growing impact of man‐made emissions into the environment. Periods of volcanic activity are clearly marked at the 40 m and 60 m levels. Variations in values of Cl−and Na concentrations in the core, when compared with data on ice structure and dynamics of sea ice in the western sector of the Arctic allow one to identify a period of climatic warming in the 12th‐16th centuries and a period of cooling in the 17th‐18th centuries.