Did an asteroid impact cause temporary warming during snowball Earth?
The ca. 717 Ma low-latitude Sturtian “snowball Earth” glaciation lasted ∼56 Myr. However, sedimentological evidence for transient, open ocean conditions during the glaciation appears to contradict the concept of a global deep freeze. We demonstrate multiple lines of geologic evidence from five conti...
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ftsouthampton:oai:eprints.soton.ac.uk:454684 2023-12-03T10:30:05+01:00 Did an asteroid impact cause temporary warming during snowball Earth? Lan, Zhongwu Mitchell, Ross Gernon, Thomas Nordsvan, Adam 2022-03-01 text https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/454684/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/454684/1/EPSL_D_20_01685_accepted.pdf en English eng https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/454684/1/EPSL_D_20_01685_accepted.pdf Lan, Zhongwu, Mitchell, Ross, Gernon, Thomas and Nordsvan, Adam (2022) Did an asteroid impact cause temporary warming during snowball Earth? Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 581, [117407]. (doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117407 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117407>). cc_by_nc_nd_4 Article PeerReviewed 2022 ftsouthampton 2023-11-03T00:03:42Z The ca. 717 Ma low-latitude Sturtian “snowball Earth” glaciation lasted ∼56 Myr. However, sedimentological evidence for transient, open ocean conditions during the glaciation appears to contradict the concept of a global deep freeze. We demonstrate multiple lines of geologic evidence from five continents for a temporary, localized sea-ice retreat during the middle of the Sturtian glaciation, which coincides with one, perhaps two, asteroid impacts, and arguably more terrestrial impacts as inferred from the lunar impact record. The well-dated Jänisjärvi impact (ca. 687 Ma) is synchronous with repeated volcanic ash falls whose deposition is most parsimoniously interpreted to indicate a partially ice-free ocean. Temporary greenhouse warming caused by the vaporization of sea ice can explain localized glacial retreat within restricted seaways between these continents, where ice flow would have been constricted and sea ice thinnest before impact. Article in Journal/Newspaper Sea ice University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton Jänisjärvi ENVELOPE(28.747,28.747,69.591,69.591) |
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University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton |
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ftsouthampton |
language |
English |
description |
The ca. 717 Ma low-latitude Sturtian “snowball Earth” glaciation lasted ∼56 Myr. However, sedimentological evidence for transient, open ocean conditions during the glaciation appears to contradict the concept of a global deep freeze. We demonstrate multiple lines of geologic evidence from five continents for a temporary, localized sea-ice retreat during the middle of the Sturtian glaciation, which coincides with one, perhaps two, asteroid impacts, and arguably more terrestrial impacts as inferred from the lunar impact record. The well-dated Jänisjärvi impact (ca. 687 Ma) is synchronous with repeated volcanic ash falls whose deposition is most parsimoniously interpreted to indicate a partially ice-free ocean. Temporary greenhouse warming caused by the vaporization of sea ice can explain localized glacial retreat within restricted seaways between these continents, where ice flow would have been constricted and sea ice thinnest before impact. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lan, Zhongwu Mitchell, Ross Gernon, Thomas Nordsvan, Adam |
spellingShingle |
Lan, Zhongwu Mitchell, Ross Gernon, Thomas Nordsvan, Adam Did an asteroid impact cause temporary warming during snowball Earth? |
author_facet |
Lan, Zhongwu Mitchell, Ross Gernon, Thomas Nordsvan, Adam |
author_sort |
Lan, Zhongwu |
title |
Did an asteroid impact cause temporary warming during snowball Earth? |
title_short |
Did an asteroid impact cause temporary warming during snowball Earth? |
title_full |
Did an asteroid impact cause temporary warming during snowball Earth? |
title_fullStr |
Did an asteroid impact cause temporary warming during snowball Earth? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Did an asteroid impact cause temporary warming during snowball Earth? |
title_sort |
did an asteroid impact cause temporary warming during snowball earth? |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/454684/ https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/454684/1/EPSL_D_20_01685_accepted.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(28.747,28.747,69.591,69.591) |
geographic |
Jänisjärvi |
geographic_facet |
Jänisjärvi |
genre |
Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Sea ice |
op_relation |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/454684/1/EPSL_D_20_01685_accepted.pdf Lan, Zhongwu, Mitchell, Ross, Gernon, Thomas and Nordsvan, Adam (2022) Did an asteroid impact cause temporary warming during snowball Earth? Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 581, [117407]. (doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117407 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117407>). |
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cc_by_nc_nd_4 |
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1784255757504479232 |