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Nature 450, 807-808 (6 December 2007) | doi:10.1038/450807a; Published online 5 December 2007

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Palaeoclimate: Slush find

Alan J. Kaufman1

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A coupled model of palaeoclimate and carbon cycling turns up the heat on the idea that Earth once became a giant snowball. It supports instead a milder 'slushball Earth' history — but piquant questions remain.

Sediments laid down in the oceans during the late Neoproterozoic era, between about 850 million and 542 million years ago, tell a dramatic story. They contain wildly varying abundances of the carbon isotope 12C, which is typically incorporated into organic matter during photosynthesis.

  1. Alan J. Kaufman is in the Geology Department, University of Maryland, USA, and is currently on sabbatical at the Geologisch–Paläontologisches Institut, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Corrensstras zlige 24, 48149 Münster, Germany.
    Email: kaufman@geol.umd.edu

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