Orbital forcing of ice sheets during snowball Earth
Orbital forcing of ice sheets during snowball Earth
The snowball Earth hypothesis - that a runaway ice-albedo feedback can cause global glaciation - seeks to explain low-latitude glacial deposits, as well as geological anomalies including the re emergence of banded iron formation and ‘‘cap’’ carbonates. One of the most significant challenges to snowball Earth has been sedimentological cyclicity that has been taken to imply more climate dynamics than expected when the ocean is completely covered in ice. However, recent climate models suggest that as atmospheric CO2 accumulates, the snowball climate system becomes sensitive to orbital forcing. Here we show the presence of nearly all Milankovitch (orbital) cycles preserved in stratified banded iron formation deposited during the Sturtian snowball Earth. These results provide evidence for orbitally forced cyclicity of global ice sheets that resulted in periodic oxidation of ferrous iron. Orbital glacial advance and retreat cycles provide a simple mechanism to reconcile both the sedimentary dynamics and the enigmatic survival of multicellular life during snowball Earth.
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Mitchell, Ross
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Gernon, Thomas
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Cox, Grant
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Nordsvan, Adam
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Kirscher, Uwe
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Xuan, Chuang
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Liu, Yebo
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Liu, Xu
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He, Xiao-Fang
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7 July 2021
Mitchell, Ross
b0b3265a-d2dd-435c-a6a3-254390eebcfe
Gernon, Thomas
658041a0-fdd1-4516-85f4-98895a39235e
Cox, Grant
f8028832-1898-4262-bb01-a555e283a3db
Nordsvan, Adam
c59293e5-d743-48c3-97c8-39c90096373a
Kirscher, Uwe
bda68b96-0275-41ba-8175-5c27504d8192
Xuan, Chuang
3f3cad12-b17b-46ae-957a-b362def5b837
Liu, Yebo
3c5acdf8-e758-4ae7-b538-a2c3babfc235
Liu, Xu
61071627-009c-4faf-a290-4f5194fba393
He, Xiao-Fang
356b7b92-5656-4bec-b07c-59ca4754b0d5
Mitchell, Ross, Gernon, Thomas, Cox, Grant, Nordsvan, Adam, Kirscher, Uwe, Xuan, Chuang, Liu, Yebo, Liu, Xu and He, Xiao-Fang
(2021)
Orbital forcing of ice sheets during snowball Earth.
Nature Communications, 12, , [4187].
Abstract
The snowball Earth hypothesis - that a runaway ice-albedo feedback can cause global glaciation - seeks to explain low-latitude glacial deposits, as well as geological anomalies including the re emergence of banded iron formation and ‘‘cap’’ carbonates. One of the most significant challenges to snowball Earth has been sedimentological cyclicity that has been taken to imply more climate dynamics than expected when the ocean is completely covered in ice. However, recent climate models suggest that as atmospheric CO2 accumulates, the snowball climate system becomes sensitive to orbital forcing. Here we show the presence of nearly all Milankovitch (orbital) cycles preserved in stratified banded iron formation deposited during the Sturtian snowball Earth. These results provide evidence for orbitally forced cyclicity of global ice sheets that resulted in periodic oxidation of ferrous iron. Orbital glacial advance and retreat cycles provide a simple mechanism to reconcile both the sedimentary dynamics and the enigmatic survival of multicellular life during snowball Earth.
Text
MitchellGernon_etal_NatureComms2021
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 18 June 2021
Published date: 7 July 2021
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 454097
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/454097
ISSN: 2041-1723
PURE UUID: 330a725c-4f1e-47b7-8245-dbec40734e91
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Date deposited: 31 Jan 2022 17:34
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:33
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Contributors
Author:
Ross Mitchell
Author:
Grant Cox
Author:
Adam Nordsvan
Author:
Uwe Kirscher
Author:
Yebo Liu
Author:
Xu Liu
Author:
Xiao-Fang He
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