摘要:
Geologists at the University of Michigan have decoded a precise record of long-term changes in Earth's ancient climate and ocean currents hidden inside dark, crusty deposits coating rocks on the Pacific ocean floor.These depositsâcalled ferromanganese crustsâconstitute an important new data source for geochemists who currently rely on ice cores and shells of microscopic ocean animals, among other sources, for data on Earth's paleoclimate, according to John Christensen, assistant research scientist in geological sciences at the University of Michigan. âThe isotopic signature is distinctive. It's like adding different-colored dyes to the ocean and tracking them as they swirl around,â he says.
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