July-August, Volume 87, No. 4

Figure 5. Ocean core shows a rapid change from sediments transported from coastal regions by icebergs (light-colored material) to sediments composed of the remains of organisms that lived in the ocean (dark-colored material). Melting icebergs at this time also released large amounts of freshwater at the ocean surface, which reduced seawater density and slowed convection-based currents, precipitating a major and rapid climate change. (Photograph courtesy of Bedford Institute of Oceanography.)