Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Low-latitude glaciation in the Palaeoproterozoic era

Abstract

One of the most fundamental enigmas of the Earth's palaeoclimate concerns the temporal and spatial distributions of Precambrian glaciations. Through four billion years of Precambrian history, unequivocally glacial deposits have been found only in the Palaeoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic record1. Nonetheless, some of these deposits are closely associated with tropical— rather than just polar—palaeolatitudinal indicators such as carbonate rocks, red beds, and evaporites1,2. These observations are quantitatively supported by palaeomagnetic results indicating a 5° latitude for Neoproterozoic glaciogenic rocks in Australia3–5. Similarly reliable palaeolatitudes for the older, Palaeoproterozoic glaciogenic rocks have not yet been obtained, as such deposits commonly suffer from poor preservation and secondary magnetic overprinting. The Archaean–Palaeoproterozoic 'Transvaal Supergroup' on the Kaapvaal craton in South Africa is, however, exceptionally well preserved, and is thus amenable to the palaeomagnetic determination of depositional palaeolatitudes. Within this supergroup the 2.2 billion-year old Ongeluk lavas are a regionally extensive, largely undeformed and unmetamorphosed, extrusive volcanic succession6, which conformably overlies glaciogenic deposits (the Makganyene diamictite). Here we report a palaeomagnetic estimate of 11 ± 5° depositional latitude for the lavas, and hence for the underlying contemporaneous glacial rocks. The palaeoclimate enigma is thus deepened; a largely ice-free Precambrian world was apparently punctuated by two long ice ages, both yielding glacial deposits well within tropical latitudes.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Hambrey, M. J. & Harland, W. B. Earth's Pre-Pleistocene Glacial Record (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1981).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Chumakov, N. M. & Elston, D. P. Episodes 12, 115–119 (1989).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Embleton, B. J. J. & Williams, G. E. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 79, 419–430 (1986).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Schmidt, P. W., Williams, G. E. & Embleton, B. J. J. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 105, 355–367 (1991).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Sohl, L. E. & Christie-Blick, N. Geol. Soc. Am. Abst. Program. 27, A204 (1995).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Tankard, A. J. et al. Crustal Evolution of Southern Africa: 3.8 Billion Years of Earth History (Springer, New York, 1982).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  7. Beukes, N. J. in Mineral Deposits of Southern Africa (eds Anhaeusser, C. R. & Maske, S.) 819–828 (Geol. Soc. S. Africa, Johannesburg, 1986).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Eriksson, P. G. & Reczko, B. F. F. J. Afr. Earth Sci. 21, 487–504 (1995).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Button, A. thesis, Univ. Witwatersrand (1973).

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  10. Cornell, D. H., Schütte, S. S. & Eglington, B. L. Precambr. Res. 79, 101–123 (1996).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Burger, A. J. & Coertze, F. J. Ann. Geol. Surv. S. Afr. 10, 135–141 (1975).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Steiger, R. H. & Jäger, E. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 36, 359–362 (1977).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Trendall, A. F. et al. in 3rd Int. Archean Symp. (eds Glover, J. F. & Ho, S. E.) 81–83 (Geoconferences (W.A.), Perth, 1990).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Walraven, F., Armstrong, R. A. & Kruger, F. J. Tectonophysics 171, 23–48 (1990).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. Briden, J. C. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Land. A 280, 405–416 (1976).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. Hattìngh, P. J. & Pauls, N. D. Precambr. Res. 69, 229–240 (1994).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. Symons, D. T. A. Geology 3, 303–306 (1975).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. Roy, J. L. & Lapointe, P. L. Can. J. Earth Sci. 13, 749–773 (1976).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. Morris, W. A. Geology 5, 137–140 (1977).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. Buchan, K. L., Mortensen, J. K. & Card, K. D. Precamb. Res. 69, 1–10 (1994).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. Miyano, T. & Beukes, N. J. Trans. Geol Soc. S. Afr. 87, 111–124 (1984).

    Google Scholar 

  22. Stratigraphy of South Africa (South African Committee for Stratigraphy, Pretoria, 1980).

  23. Beukes, N. J. & Smit, C. A. S. Afr. J. Geol. 90, 378–394 (1987).

    Google Scholar 

  24. Eyles, N. Earth Sci. Rev. 35, 1–248 (1994).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. De Villiers, P. R. & Visser, J. N. J. Trans. Geol. Soc. S. Afr. 80, 1–8 (1977).

    Google Scholar 

  26. Visser, J. N. J. thesis, Univ. Orange Free State (1969).

    Google Scholar 

  27. Neumiller, C. M. thesis, Northern Illinois Univ. (1990).

    Google Scholar 

  28. Visser, J. N. J. Trans. Geol Soc. S. Afr. 74, 187–199 (1971).

    Google Scholar 

  29. Kirschvink, J. L. Geophys. J. R. Astron. Soc. 62, 699–718 (1980).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  30. Grobler, N. J. & Botha, B. J. V. Trans. Geol Soc. S. Afr. 79, 53–57 (1976).

    Google Scholar 

  31. Fisher, N. L., Lewis, T. & Embleton, B. J. J. Statistical Analysis of Spherical Data (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1987).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  32. Van der Voo, R. Tectonophysics 184, 1–9 (1990).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  33. Williams, G. E. Earth Sci. Rev. 34, 1–45 (1993).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  34. Kirschvink, J. L. in The Proterozoic Biosphere: A Multidisciplinary Study (eds Schopf, J. W. & Klein, C.) 51–52 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1992).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Evans, D., Beukes, N. & Kirschvink, J. Low-latitude glaciation in the Palaeoproterozoic era. Nature 386, 262–266 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/386262a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/386262a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing