5+ hour, 6+ min ago (359+ words) A quiet fissure in southern Nevada has revealed a climate record that few expected to find in a desert. Researchers have uncovered 580,000 years of shifting weather from a single calcite deposit hidden inside Devils Hole. Devils Hole Offers Rare Climate HistoryClimate scientists usually use long ice cores from Antarctica. These cores hold steady layers across many kilometres of depth. Hot and dry regions seldom preserve such lengthy records. Devils Hole proved to be a rare exception for researchers. The region once supported mammoths, bison, ground sloths and dire wolves. These species lived more comfortably during cooler glacial stretches. Warming periods likely pushed some animals further north over time. Devils Hole already held value due to its long mineral layers. Groundwater has flowed through the cave for hundreds of thousands of years. The core is analysed soon after its removal from…...