A Neoproterozoic Snowball Earth

Negative carbon isotope anomalies in carbonate rocks bracketing Neoproterozoic glacial deposits in Namibia, combined with estimates of thermal subsidence history, suggest that biological productivity in the surface ocean collapsed for millions of years. This collapse can be explained by a global gla...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1998-08, Vol.281 (5381), p.1342-1346
Main Authors: Hoffman, Paul F., Kaufman, Alan J., Halverson, Galen P., Schrag, Daniel P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Atmosphere
Atmospherics
Carbon dioxide
Carbonates
Climate
Earth
Earth sciences
Earth's age
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Geology
Glacial deposits
Glacial epoch
Glacial landforms
Glaciation
Ice ages
Marine
Oceans
Petrology of sedimentary rocks except quaternary rocks
Prehistoric era
Sedimentary rocks
Snowball Earth hypothesis
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Summary:Negative carbon isotope anomalies in carbonate rocks bracketing Neoproterozoic glacial deposits in Namibia, combined with estimates of thermal subsidence history, suggest that biological productivity in the surface ocean collapsed for millions of years. This collapse can be explained by a global glaciation (that is, a snowball Earth), which ended abruptly when subaerial volcanic outgassing raised atmospheric carbon dioxide to about 350 times the modern level. The rapid termination would have resulted in a warming of the snowball Earth to extreme greenhouse conditions. The transfer of atmospheric carbon dioxide to the ocean would result in the rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate in warm surface waters, producing the cap carbonate rocks observed globally.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.281.5381.1342