Climate in the past million years determined greatly by dust in the Southern Ocean
Thursday, September 1, 2011 - 11:32
in Earth & Climate
A group of scientists led by researchers from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) has quantified dust and iron fluxes deposited in the Antarctic Ocean during the past 4 million years. The research study published in Nature evidences the close relation between the maximum contributions of dust to this ocean and climate changes occurring in the most intense glaciation periods of the Pleistocene period, some 1.25 million years ago. Data confirms the role of iron in the increase in phytoplankton levels during glacial periods, intensifying the function of this ocean as a CO2 sink.
