Traces of the Sturtian Ice Age, about 717-664 million years ago, in the northern Flinders Mountain Range in Australia (communication sites)
A group of Australian researchers has provided compelling evidence to support the frozen Earth theory, as the entire planet was covered in ice extending from the poles to the equator about 700 million years ago, with very low temperatures.
The study relied on data collected from a field trip to the Flinders Mountain Range in South Australia, where researchers discovered important evidence that led them to traces of this ice dating back to the Cryogenian period, specifically to the Sturtian era, when the Earth was like a huge snowball traveling in space. According to available geological data, this era is the longest and most severe glacial event on Earth since the early Huronian era.
The team used a plate tectonic model to depict the landscape of Earth's continental drift after the breakup of the supercontinent Rodinia, along with a computer model to estimate carbon dioxide emissions from underwater volcanoes. They discovered that the beginning of the Sturtian Ice Age coincided with a significant decline in volcanic carbon dioxide emissions, which remained low throughout the Ice Age.
Co-author of the study, Dr. Dietmar Müller from the University of Sydney, says: The Sturtian Ice Age occurred due to the movement of tectonic plates, which led to reducing the discharge of volcanic gases to a minimum, at a time when a great volcano in the north of the Earth began to decay, which led to the consumption of carbon dioxide. Carbon in the atmosphere.
This reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide reached a level less than half of what it is today, and the ice age was then beginning to form.
During this period, the Earth lacked multicellular animals and land plants, as greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere were primarily carbon dioxide emissions from volcanoes and siliceous rock weathering processes.
Looking to the future, scientists expect that similar ice ages may occur again, especially if current climate changes lead to significant melting of the Greenland ice sheet. Evidence from the sudden cold “Younger Dryas” period, which occurred about 12,800 years ago and lasted about 1,300 years; It indicates the possibility of such sudden climate shifts occurring in the future.
The Younger Dryas period represents a sudden ice age that occurred immediately after the average temperature on Earth was high. Geological records indicate that this “sudden big freeze” was the result of the influx of large amounts of fresh water into the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, which disrupted the thermohaline circulation in the oceans.
Earth system science specialist Henry Mullins stressed the importance of quickly recognizing such sudden climate shifts, noting that there is a limited opportunity for humans to adapt if they are surprised by that climate turning point.
Source: websites