A team of Australian geologists has utilized plate tectonic modeling to uncover the probable reason behind an extreme ice-age climate that occurred on Earth over 700 million years ago.
Lead author of the study, ARC Future Fellow Dr. Adriana Dutkiewicz, described the planet as being almost entirely frozen during this period, with temperatures plummeting from the poles to the equator. The cause of this phenomenon has long been a mystery.
However, the team now believes they have solved the puzzle, attributing the historically low volcanic carbon dioxide emissions and the weathering of a large pile of volcanic rocks in present-day Canada as the factors that absorbed atmospheric carbon dioxide.
The inspiration for this project came from the glacial debris left by the ancient glaciation, which can be observed in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia.
During a geological field trip to the Ranges, co-author Professor Alan Collins from the University of Adelaide led the team in using the University of Sydney EarthByte computer models to investigate the cause and the remarkably long duration of this ice age.
2024-02-08 10:00:04
Link from phys.org