What to know

• Researchers used sediment cores from the Rockall Plateau in the northeastern Atlantic to trace 230,000 years of seawater chemistry change.
• The chemistry shifts, particularly in neodymium isotopic composition, are attributed to the interaction between volcanism and ice cover in Iceland as the ice sheet grew and retreated.
• The findings, from Heidelberg University's Institute of Environmental Physics, were distributed via idw-online, EurekAlert! and Phys.org on 2026-08-20.

Institute of Environmental Physics, Heidelberg University Research institution conducting the study