{"id":3713,"date":"2021-09-02T16:05:26","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T20:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cecas.clemson.edu\/ideas\/?p=3713"},"modified":"2022-01-10T16:40:46","modified_gmt":"2022-01-10T21:40:46","slug":"following-the-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cecas.clemson.edu\/ideas\/following-the-river\/","title":{"rendered":"Following the River"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Following
\nthe River<\/p><\/h1><\/div><\/div><\/div>

N<\/span>ew evidence\u00a0<\/span>of ancient waterway <\/span>could provide clues\u00a0<\/span>about modern-day climate<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Following
\nthe River<\/p><\/h1><\/div><\/div><\/div>

N<\/span>ew evidence\u00a0<\/span>of ancient waterway <\/span>could provide clues\u00a0<\/span>about modern-day climate<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

New evidence that an ancient river system flowed from Canada\u2019s western mountain ranges to the Labrador Sea is raising questions about the impact it may have had on Earth\u2019s climate millions of years ago and could provide clues to what the future climate might be like, Clemson University researchers said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scientists have long hypothesized that the now-extinct Bell River<\/b> and its tributaries flowed east about 3-30 million years ago, until the Laurentide Ice Sheet wiped it from the landscape during the Ice Age.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Researchers said they have found fresh evidence of the river\u2019s existence by comparing sediment deposits about 1,800 miles apart and analyzing shells left by marine life of the time. Some samples came from the Saglek Basin<\/b> in the Labrador Sea.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Other samples were taken from sites in Alberta<\/span> <\/b>and Saskatchewan<\/span><\/b>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Researchers detailed their work in a recent edition of GSA Bulletin, a journal published by The Geological Society of America. Clemson co-authors included Alex Pullen<\/b><\/span> (pictured), an assistant professor of environmental engineering and Earth sciences and Julia Corradino, a master\u2019s student in hydrogeology when she participated in the research.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Researchers used uranium-lead dating to compare zircon crystals in the two sets of samples. The results suggested the two sets of sediments were from the same source and that they were carried across the continent by the ancient river system, researchers said.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Researchers also analyzed shells and shell fragments of ancient bivalve marine organisms found in the cores extracted from the underwater wells. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they build their shells, they take on the chemistry of that sea water,\u201d Pullen said. \u201cThat river, we think, changed the chemistry of the Labrador Sea such that we can take these shells and measure some isotopes and say, \u2018This is not what the modern Labrador Sea is like now.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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