Researchers Find the Reasoning Behind the Survival of Life During Ice Age

Though science has achieved tremendous success over the last century, there are multiple mysteries still unanswered. One of these great mysteries is the existence of life in the ice age. Scientists have no answer about how life sustained during the ice age. But recently, a research team from McGill University found something exciting and might be the answer that everyone is looking for. 

The research team studied the rock formed by glacial deposits in Namibia, Australia, and California. They found an excessive amount of iron from the rock. Their primary aim was to find the environmental condition in the ice age. Researchers took the help of various geological maps to find out the rocks. They also asked for several local inputs to precisely locate these spots. By experimenting on the soil, researchers able to calculate the amount of oxygen that the ocean carried during the ice age, around 700 million years ago. They also carried out a study to examine the effect of the oxygen on marine life, such as simple sponges.

The Reasoning about the Existence of Marine Environment

The study confirmed that the majority portion of the ocean was inhabitable, owing to the lack of oxygen. But, when the ice sheet began to float on the water surface, it provided much-needed oxygen sources. Maxwell Lechte, a researcher from the McGill University, revealed that when an underground ice sheet started to float on the ocean surface, the bubbles of air trapped inside the layer emerged out to ocean water. When these bubbles melted, the ocean body got the oxygen, which is critical for the survival of life source. 

Previously, scientists predicted that meltwater on the surface of the ice sheet was the only source of life, but the recent study rejected the previous hypothesis. The confirmation of the existence of the marine environment during the ice age will open more space for exploration in the future.