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The Sturtian glaciation was a worldwide glaciation during the Cryogenian Period when the Earth experienced repeated large-scale glaciations. [ 3 ] [ 4 ] As of January 2023 [update] , the Sturtian glaciation is thought to have lasted from c. 717 Ma to c. 660 Ma, a time span of approximately 57 million years. [ 3 ]
After the long environmental stability/stagnation during the Boring Billion, the Sturtian glaciation began at the beginning of Cryogenian, freezing the entire planet in a state of severe icehouse climate known as a snowball Earth. After 70 million years it ended, but was quickly followed by another global ice age, the Marinoan glaciation.
Earth's surface is very depleted in iridium, which primarily resides in Earth's core. The only significant source of the element at the surface is cosmic particles that reach Earth. During a snowball Earth, iridium would accumulate on the ice sheets, and when the ice melted the resulting layer of sediment would be rich in iridium.
Throughout Earth's climate history (Paleoclimate) its climate has fluctuated between two primary states: greenhouse and icehouse Earth. [1] Both climate states last for millions of years and should not be confused with the much smaller glacial and interglacial periods, which occur as alternating phases within an icehouse period (known as an ice age) and tend to last less than one million years ...
These periods of nearly complete glaciation of Earth are often referred to as "Snowball Earth", where it is hypothesized that at times the planet was covered by ice 1–2 km (0.62–1.24 mi) thick. [14] Of these glaciations, the Sturtian glaciation was the most significant, whereas the Marinoan was a shorter, but still worldwide glaciation ...
A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances.
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The third ice age, and possibly most severe, is estimated to have occurred from 720 to 635 Ma (million years) ago, [3] in the Neoproterozoic Era, and it has been suggested that it produced a second [4] "Snowball Earth", i.e. a period during which Earth was completely covered in ice.