Open AccessClouds could explain how Snowball Earth thawed out
Author(s) -
Schultz Colin
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1002/2013eo030026
Subject(s) - snowball earth , planet , geology , astrobiology , glacier , ice age , glacial period , earth (classical element) , paleontology , astronomy , physics
Glaciation events during the Neoproterozoic (524–1,000 million years ago) and Paleoproterozoic (1,600–2,500 million years ago) periods—events that spawned ice ages that persisted for millions of years at a time—may have seen glacier ice encircle the planet in a frosty planetary configuration known as a Snowball Earth. Whether the planet could have existed in such a state, however, is a matter of considerable debate.