EDINBURGH, Scotland, March 30 (UPI) -- Scottish and French scientists say dust trapped deep beneath Antarctic ice sheets may provide data that can help them predict climate changes.
Researchers from Scotland's universities of Edinburgh and Stirling and the University of Lille in France said they discovered dust blown to Antarctica from the windy plains of Patagonia -- deposited in the ice periodically during an 80,000-year span -- provides vital information about glacier activity.
The study shows the very coldest periods of the last ice age correspond with the dustiest periods in Antarctica's past. During those times, glaciers in Patagonia were at their biggest and released meltwater containing dust particles onto barren plains, from where the dust was blown to Antarctica.
Dust from the ice cores was analyzed and found to be a close match with mud of the same age in the Magellan Straits, showing that most of the dust originated in the Patagonia region.
The study's findings were published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
