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As part of the Antarctic Peninsula Conference, Dr. Amy Leventer of Colgate University presented the results of research she conducted with Hamilton College Professor of Geology Eugene Domack. They studied marine sediments to find records of environmental and temperature change. By identifying the species of fossilized diatoms in the sediment, they were able to tell what the environment was like at the time these organisms were alive. Diatoms are microscopic, photosynthetic plankton.  There are many species of diatoms and they exist in many forms.

Leventer reported that from 6,700 to 9,000 years before present, extremely warm conditions existed in the Palmer Deep region of the Antarctic Peninsula due to the incursion of warmer sub-polar waters.  These water masses brought with them different forms of diatoms, which are indicative of the environmental status.  The diatoms studied lived in groups, and the size of these colonies also is an environmental indicator. If an area of Antarctica is warmer, less sea ice is present, and diatoms could photosynthesize more and consequently reproduce more, creating larger colonies. Leventer and Domack did observe larger colonies, adding weight to their findings.

"I suspect that large scale, global interrelationships were involved in bringing the mass of sub-polar water, and higher temperatures to Antarctica at that time." Dr. Leventer continued, "We saw records of a significant change in the polar climate throughout the last 10,000 years."  Included in this change is a period of rapid warming during the past 50 years.

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