Dynamics of the Icelandic ice sheet altered North Atlantic seawater chemistry, environmental physicists reveal
Researchers from Heidelberg University have discovered that volcanic activity in Iceland significantly altered North Atlantic seawater chemistry over the last 230,000 years. The study challenges previous assumptions about the stability of isotopic signatures in ocean circulation.
Why it matters
Improves our understanding of climate history and the geological factors that influence ocean chemistry and circulation.
edited by Gaby Clark , reviewed by Robert Egan
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Add as preferred source North Atlantic sites and water circulation. Credit: Science Advances (2026). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aeg5747 Over the past 230,000 years, the growth and retreat of the Icelandic ice sheet have led to major changes in the seawater chemistry of the North Atlantic, caused by the interaction between volcanism and ice in Iceland. Scientists at the Institute of Environmental Physics at Heidelberg University have demonstrated this using sediment cores from the northeastern Atlantic—the Rockall Plateau.
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