Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.
Science Policy Alerts

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 29 November 2002:
Vol. 298. no. 5599, p. 1675
DOI: 10.1126/science.298.5599.1675f
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

This Week in Science

The deep ocean was colder and saltier during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) than it is today, and these differences affected thermohaline circulation. Adkins et al. (p. 1769; see the Perspective by Boyle) created a temperature and salinity "map" of the LGM deep ocean by analyzing the chloride concentration and oxygen isotope ratios of fluids trapped in deep-sea sediments from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern Ocean basins. The Southern Ocean was the saltiest water mass during the glacial period, the reverse of the modern Atlantic salinity gradient. Thermohaline circulation was dominated by variations in salinity during the LGM, as opposed to present conditions, where temperature is the main variable.




ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)