The Bering Land BridgeThe Bering land bridge, also called Beringia, connected Siberia and Alaska during the late Ice Age. It was exposed when the glaciers formed, absorbing a large volume of sea water and lowering the sea level by about 300 feet. The water level dropped so much that the ocean floor under the shallow Bering and Chukchi seas was exposed, forming a land bridge that both animals and people could traverse. The land bridge measured about 1,000 miles north-to-south at its maximum extent. Climate change at the end of the Ice Age caused the glaciers to melt, flooding Beringia about 10,000 to 11,000 years ago and closing the land bridge. By 6,000 years ago, coastlines approximated their current boundaries. |