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Article: Ocean life in the ice age: time to party. (ocean life benefitted from higher concentrations of nitrate during last ice age)(Science News of the Week)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- September 2, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Given a choice between an ice age climate and today's balmy conditions, most residents of North America and Europe would opt for the warmer weather. But a fish or a whale might pick differently. Emerging evidence suggests that oceanic life enjoyed an extended bash during the last ice age, complete with plenty of nutritious refreshments and unbridled procreation, at least on a microscopic level.
In the Aug. 31 Nature, Raja S. Ganeshram of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and his colleagues report that the ice age ocean of around 20,000 years ago appeared to hold higher concentrations of nitrate, a key nutrient for the single celled planktonic plants that ...