Earth and Environment Atlas

How The Planet Works
Open Questions

Was Snowball Earth a full snowball or a slushball with an open equatorial band?

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Why Open
Proponents argue that near-total glaciation best explains glacial deposits at tropical palaeolatitudes and other enigmatic features of the Cryogenian record, while opponents contest the geological evidence for global glaciation and the geophysical feasibility of an ice-covered or slush-covered ocean, and emphasize the difficulty of escaping an all-frozen state. Whether an equatorial band of open or seasonally open water persisted remains one of the hypothesis's named unanswered questions. 1
What Would Resolve
Sedimentary or geochemical evidence that settles whether open water persisted at the Cryogenian equator during the Sturtian and Marinoan episodes, tested against climate models able to reproduce both entry into and escape from the frozen state. 1
Discipline Needed
Paleoclimatology, Geology, Geochemistry 1
Open Question

Proponents argue that near-total glaciation best explains glacial deposits at tropical palaeolatitudes and other enigmatic features of the Cryogenian record, while opponents contest the geological evidence for global glaciation and the geophysical feasibility of an ice-covered or slush-covered ocean, and emphasize the difficulty of escaping an all-frozen state. Whether an equatorial band of open or seasonally open water persisted remains one of the hypothesis's named unanswered questions.

What would resolve this Sedimentary or geochemical evidence that settles whether open water persisted at the Cryogenian equator during the Sturtian and Marinoan episodes, tested against climate models able to reproduce both entry into and escape from the frozen state.
OpenPaleoclimatology, Geology, GeochemistrySnowball Earth (Wikipedia)
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1. Snowball Earth (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead sectionView the Source
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