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Nature 410, 427-428 (22 March 2001) | doi:10.1038/35068665

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Glaciology:  Enigmatic Arctic ice sheets

Robert Spielhagen

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To what extent was the Arctic Ocean glaciated in the past? Heavily, according to data, gathered by a submarine, which show considerable ice-scouring of topography in parts of the ocean basin.

Those of us living in the northern parts of Europe or North America can see the legacy of the ice ages from a brief look out of the window. Several times during the past million years, huge ice domes, kilometres thick, have covered vast areas of the Northern Hemisphere.