Indian Ocean Salt Key to Ending Ice Ages

A new study suggests that a build-up of salinity in the Indian Ocean during the last ice age may have primed the ocean for a recovery of circulation during deglaciation. The Agulhas system, which transports warm and salty water from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic, played a key role in this process. The study used sediment cores to reconstruct past ocean conditions and found that changes in the Agulhas system were linked to changes in the Indian Ocean's freshwater balance. The findings have implications for understanding how the ocean responds to climate change.