Geologists: Were Plate Tectonics different during “Snowball Earth”?

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“Were Plate Tectonics different during “Snowball Earth”?” by Dr. Kurt Sundell

There is a theory that during part of the Cryogenian (720-635 million years ago), the Earth was largely covered with ice and snow, known as “Snowball Earth”. Furthermore, some researchers claim that there was extreme erosion during Snowball Earth and that these eroded sediments lubricated plate subduction worldwide, thus changing the style of plate tectonics during this time.

 

By studying global zircon geochemistry and oxygen isotope data we refute the idea that tectonic plate subduction was somehow different during the Cryogenian. We have come to this conclusion by studying modern analogs, and by putting zircon and oxygen data in the context of plate tectonics through geologic time.

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