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Chapter 8 - Snowball Earth

A Neoproterozoic Frozen Planet

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2025

Peter Copeland  and
Janok P. Bhattacharya
Peter Copeland
Affiliation:
University of Houston
Janok P. Bhattacharya
Affiliation:
McMaster University, Ontario
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Summary

Today, glaciers are found at high latitudes, closer to the pole, or at high altitudes, typically about 4,000 meters above sea level. However, the rock record tells us that during the past two billion years, Earth has experienced several episodes in which the distribution of ice across the globe was distinctly different than the modern arrangement. Earth has experienced about eight major glacial periods throughout its history, including the current stage (Figure 8.1).

Type
Chapter
Information
Earth History
Stories of Our Geological Past
 , pp. 150 - 167
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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References

Further Reading and References

Dutkiewicz, A., Merdith, A. S., Collins, A. S., et al., 2024, Duration of Sturtian “Snowball Earth” glaciation linked to exceptionally low mid-ocean ridge outgassing, Geology, https://doi.org/10.1130/G51669.1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffmann, P. F., and Schrag, D. P., 2000, Snowball Earth, Scientific American, 282(1), 68–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffman, P. F., Abbot, D. S., Ashkenazy, Y., et al., 2017, Snowball Earth climate dynamics and Cryogenian geology-geobiology, Science Advances, 3(11), e1600983, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1600983.Google ScholarPubMed
Ronov, A. B., 1972, Evolution of rock composition and geochemical processes in the sedimentary shell of the Earth, Sedimentology, 19(3–4), 157–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ziegler, A. F., Smith, C. R., Edwards, K. F., and Vernet, M., 2017, Glacial dropstones: islands enhancing seafloor species richness of benthic megafauna in West Antarctic Peninsula fjords, Maritime Ecology Progress Series, 583, 1–14, https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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