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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 l...

 E-Mail IMAGE: In glacial periods with low sea levels, exchange with the Pacific was halted and exchange with the North Atlantic was extremely reduced, while the Arctic basin was still receiving freshwater... view more  Credit: Graphics: Alfred Wegener Institute/Martin Künsting The Arctic Ocean was covered by up to 900 m thick shelf ice and was filled entirely with freshwater at least twice in the last 150,000 years. This surprising finding, reported in the latest issue of the journal Nature, is the result of long-term research by scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute and t...