Traffic lights at the Beringian crossroads: The first opening of the Bering Strait would have had profound biogeographical and climatic consequences. The date of that event is now firmly pushed further back in time

Article Abstract:

The area of Beringia is where Eurasia and America and the Pacific and Arctic oceans meet. The two continents are currently separated by the Bering Strait, but the opening of land or marine migration routes changed repeatedly before the world seal level recovered from the last deep marine regression. It is not clear when the controlled junction began to operate, but Marincovich and Gladenkov have reported new evidence from the Alaska Peninsula, of the date by which the Bering Strait was open. They have studied marine fossils, and note that the appearance of the Atlantic-Arctic bivalve mollusc Astarte is a clear signal for the Bering Strait opening.

Bivalvia, Bivalves, Straits

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Chlorofluorocarbon evidence for recent ventilation of the deep Bering Sea

Article Abstract:

Examination of the bottom waters of the Aleutian basin in the eastern Bering Sea reveals the presence of anthropogenic chlorofluorocarbons, suggesting the formation of a small amount of bottom water during the past 40 years. Though present-day global circulation patterns are not significantly influenced by the small volume of water, presence of chlorofluorocarbon indicates that the major source of deep water for the northwestern Pacific Ocean during the Last Glacial Maximum is the eastern Bering Sea.

Analysis, Environmental aspects, Marine sediments, Chlorofluorocarbons, Bering Sea

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Evidence for an early opening of the Bering Strait

Article Abstract:

The first opening of the Bering Strait was a significant paleo-geographical and biogeographical event, and an important oceanographic event. The event has not been accurately dated, but the discovery of a bivalve mollusc Astarte in southern Alaska indicates that the strait last opened by at least the Late Miocene or earliest Pliocene epochs. A minimum age range of between 4.8 and 7.3-7.4 Myr ago is suggested, contrasting with previous suggestions of 3.1-4.1 Myr for the initial opening.

Mollusks, Fossil, Fossil mollusks

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