Warm oceans helped first human migration from Asia to North America

Warm oceans helped first human migration from Asia to North America

A study led by the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at St Andrews University has been featured in Science Advances reveals significant changes to the circulation of the North Pacific and its impact on the initial migration of humans from Asia to North America.

Led by a St Andrews team including Dr James Rae, the scientists used sediment cores from the deep sea to reconstruct the circulation and climate of the North Pacific during the peak of the last ice age. Their results reveal a dramatically different circulation in the ice age Pacific, with vigorous ocean currents creating a relatively warm region around the modern Bering Sea.