Search results for "Snowball Earth"
showing 2 items of 2 documents
Significance of the Tambien Group (Tigrai, N. Ethiopia) for Snowball Earth events in the Arabian–Nubian Shield
2003
Abstract Juvenile continental crust of the Arabian–Nubian Shield (ANS) formed within a Neoproterozoic supercontinent cycle. Subsequent late Neoproterozoic deposition overlapped a series of dramatic climatic events that are unparalleled in subsequent Phanerozoic time, as proposed by the “Snowball Earth” hypothesis. In particular, extreme negative δ 13 C excursions coincident with glacial diamictite and cap carbonate sequences imply that profound carbon flux changes accompanied widespread glacial transitions (Snowball Events). Such a succession appears to be partially preserved in metasediments of the diamictite-bearing Tambien Group of northern Ethiopia (Negash syncline). Here, a pronounced …
A mechanism for brief glacial episodes in the Mesozoic greenhouse
2011
[1] The Mesozoic, perhaps the longest period of warmth during the Phanerozoic Earth history, has been repeatedly affected by short-lived cold interludes lasting about one million years. While the origin of these cold snaps has been classically attributed to a temporary atmospheric CO2 drawdown, quantified mechanisms explaining these instabilities of the carbon cycle are still lacking. Based on a climate carbon cycle model, we show that the general demise of carbonate platforms accompanying these short-lived cold interludes is a powerful mechanism capable of generating a fast atmospheric CO2 decrease and a moderate sea level drop associated with ice sheet buildup. The temporary nature of the…