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Sedimentary challenge to Snowball Earth

Abstract

Evidence from the magnetic field fossilized in sedimentary rocks suggests that, more than 600 million years ago, ice occupied tropical latitudes. A popular explanation for these findings, the Snowball Earth concept, envisages a fully frozen Earth for millions of years, caused by a runaway ice–albedo feedback. A rapid, catastrophic meltback at very high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide is thought to have ended this extreme climatic state. However, sedimentary rocks deposited during these cold intervals indicate that dynamic glaciers and ice streams continued to deliver large amounts of sediment to open oceans throughout the glacial cycle. The sedimentary evidence therefore indicates that despite the severity of glaciation, some oceans must have remained ice-free. Significant areas of open ocean have important implications for the survival and diversification of life and for the workings of the global carbon cycle.

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Figure 1: Glacial and non-glacial sedimentary rocks from the Mirbat Group of Dhofar, southern Oman.
Figure 2: Record of the 1.5-km-thick sedimentary succession of the Fiq Formation close to the village of Dabu't in Wadi Sahtan, al Jabal Akhdar, Oman (data used are from Ref. 100).
Figure 3: Glacial and non-glacial sedimentary rocks of the Fiq Formation in the Jabal Akhdar of northern Oman.
Figure 4: Correlation of two sedimentary profiles, 40 km apart, measured in the Fiq Formation of the Jabal Akhdar region of northern Oman, showing interleaving of glacial marine diamictites and non-glacial sedimentary rock types42.
Figure 5: Radiometric age constraints on Cryogenian glaciations based on data in Table 1.

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Allen, P., Etienne, J. Sedimentary challenge to Snowball Earth. Nature Geosci 1, 817–825 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo355

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