Scientists’ discovery that fresh water, not salt water, once filled ice-covered sections of the Arctic could dramatically reshape our understanding of both ancient sea levels and climate change.
Tens of thousands of years ago, vast, ancient reserves of freshwater in the Arctic Ocean mixed with saline water in the Atlantic Ocean in a sudden exchange marked by a period of low sea levels and frigid temperatures. (Courtesy of Alfred Wegener Institute / Martin Künsting)
(CN) An analysis of sediment in the Arctic Ocean and Nordic seas found that during at least two glacial periods over the last 150,000 years the bodies of water were covered by a thick layer of ice and filled mostly with fresh water, not salt water, according to a study released Wednesday.