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Disappearance of Arctic sea ice during summers of the Last Interglacial

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Analysis of the microfossil content of sediment cores from areas where thick Arctic sea ice persists today reveals that a subpolar species associated with Atlantic water expanded deep into the Arctic Ocean during the Last Interglacial. This finding implies that summers in the Arctic were likely sea-ice-free during this period.

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Fig. 1: Conceptual model comparing the oceanographic and ice conditions in the modern ocean with those of the Last Interglacial.

References

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This is a summary of: Vermassen, F. et al. A seasonally ice-free Arctic Ocean during the Last Interglacial. Nat. Geosci. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01227-x (2023).

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Disappearance of Arctic sea ice during summers of the Last Interglacial. Nat. Geosci. 16, 669–670 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01228-w

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