The onset of ice ages is associated with saturated iron dust, says Alfredo Martinez-Garcia, a paleoclimatologist from Swiss Higher Technical School of Zurich. According to the scientist, the process was as follows: when the water level in the ocean rich in iron bottom sediments dried and transferred winds inland, became food for phytoplankton – microorganisms that absorb carbon dioxide from the air.
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Active propagation of phytoplankton led to a decrease in greenhouse gas atmosphere and planet gradually began to cool. The theory of the connection of iron and glacial periods soared in the scientific community in the late 1980s. However only Recently, scientists have found clear evidence of this dependence. Researchers analyzed carbonate skeletons of marine rhizopod or foraminifera contained in layers of bottom sediments for 160 thousand years. Using dating technology radiocarbon, scientists were able to determine the exact age of each layer.
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© NOAA The results showed a certain pattern: during the last two ice ages there was an increase the biological productivity of foraminifera, the amount consumed they dilute nitric acid, which is known to contain carbon dioxide, and the amount of dust transferred to the region.
