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Ancient biomolecules from deep ice cores reveal a forested Southern Greenland

Willerslev, Eske ; Cappellini, Enrico ; Boomsma, Wouter ; Nielsen, Rasmus ; Hebsgaard, Martin B. ; Brand, Tina B. ; Hofreiter, Michael ; Bunce, Michael ; Poinar, Hendrik N. and Dahl-Jensen, Dorthe , et al. (2007) In Science 317(5834). p.111-114
Abstract
It is difficult to obtain fossil data from the 10% of Earth's terrestrial surface that is covered by thick glaciers and ice sheets, and hence, knowledge of the paleoenvironments of these regions has remained limited. We show that DNA and amino acids from buried organisms can be recovered from the basal sections of deep ice cores, enabling reconstructions of past flora and fauna. We show that high-altitude southern Greenland, currently lying below more than 2 kilometers of ice, was inhabited by a diverse array of conifer trees and insects within the past million years. The results provide direct evidence in support of a forested southern Greenland and suggest that many deep ice cores may contain genetic records of paleoenvironments in their... (More)
It is difficult to obtain fossil data from the 10% of Earth's terrestrial surface that is covered by thick glaciers and ice sheets, and hence, knowledge of the paleoenvironments of these regions has remained limited. We show that DNA and amino acids from buried organisms can be recovered from the basal sections of deep ice cores, enabling reconstructions of past flora and fauna. We show that high-altitude southern Greenland, currently lying below more than 2 kilometers of ice, was inhabited by a diverse array of conifer trees and insects within the past million years. The results provide direct evidence in support of a forested southern Greenland and suggest that many deep ice cores may contain genetic records of paleoenvironments in their basal sections. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Science
volume
317
issue
5834
pages
111 - 114
publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
external identifiers
  • wos:000247776700062
  • scopus:34447337482
ISSN
1095-9203
DOI
10.1126/science.1141758
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
80e813bf-1b5a-482f-8ea4-1e3d9912924b (old id 658046)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 15:39:29
date last changed
2022-02-27 08:03:08
@article{80e813bf-1b5a-482f-8ea4-1e3d9912924b,
  abstract     = {{It is difficult to obtain fossil data from the 10% of Earth's terrestrial surface that is covered by thick glaciers and ice sheets, and hence, knowledge of the paleoenvironments of these regions has remained limited. We show that DNA and amino acids from buried organisms can be recovered from the basal sections of deep ice cores, enabling reconstructions of past flora and fauna. We show that high-altitude southern Greenland, currently lying below more than 2 kilometers of ice, was inhabited by a diverse array of conifer trees and insects within the past million years. The results provide direct evidence in support of a forested southern Greenland and suggest that many deep ice cores may contain genetic records of paleoenvironments in their basal sections.}},
  author       = {{Willerslev, Eske and Cappellini, Enrico and Boomsma, Wouter and Nielsen, Rasmus and Hebsgaard, Martin B. and Brand, Tina B. and Hofreiter, Michael and Bunce, Michael and Poinar, Hendrik N. and Dahl-Jensen, Dorthe and Johnsen, Sigfus and Steffensen, Jorgen Peder and Bennike, Ole and Schwenninger, Jean-Luc and Nathan, Roger and Armitage, Simon and de Hoog, Cees-Jan and Alfimov, Vasily and Christl, Marcus and Beer, Juerg and Muscheler, Raimund and Barker, Joel and Sharp, Martin and Penkman, Kirsty E. H. and Haile, James and Taberlet, Pierre and Gilbert, M. Thomas P. and Casoli, Antonella and Campani, Elisa and Collins, Matthew J.}},
  issn         = {{1095-9203}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5834}},
  pages        = {{111--114}},
  publisher    = {{American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)}},
  series       = {{Science}},
  title        = {{Ancient biomolecules from deep ice cores reveal a forested Southern Greenland}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1141758}},
  doi          = {{10.1126/science.1141758}},
  volume       = {{317}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}