Ice age kelp found by scientists off coast of Scotland
Scientists have discovered kelp off the coast of Scotland, Ireland and around Brittany in France that has survived since the last ice age around 16,000 years ago.
Experts from the group of Myriam Valero at Station Biologique de Roscoff in France Heriot-Watt University’s Orkney campus, the University of the Algarve in Portugal, analysed the genetic composition of oarweed from 14 areas across the northern Atlantic Ocean.
Three distinct genetic clusters were found – one along the eastern seaboard of Canada and the US, one in central and northern Europe, and a compact population around Brittany.