Snowball Earth Hypothesis

Professor: Simranjit Kaur

By Nathan Hatch

Hypothesis

The hypothesis of the Snowball Earth is that at one point in time much later than
earlier assumed that much of the earths surface was covered in a large layer of
ice due to continental shift and greenhouse gasses. At first this was just a theory
but has gained ground because of more and more evidence that this did
occur.

There were issues with this hypothesis because of various things like on average,
the amount of temperature that would be related with this event would under
normal circumstances take millions of years to remedy and would leave the
earth mainly lifeless and life has been found on earth for millions of years before
and obviously afterwards as well. The issue also remained that what could cause
such an event?

Main Evidence

Luckily there is plenty of evidence that keeps being unearthed as time passes.
For example we see evidence in Namibia southwestern Africa in rocks formed
from deposits of dirt and mineral debris left behind when the ice melted. Rocks
dominated by calcium and magnesium-carbonate minerals live just above
glacial debris and harbor hothouse that would have had to follow a Snowball
Earth. These outcrops of these rocks were discovered across virtually every
continent stating that it happened even lower than most would suspect
because glaciers usual only get as low as 4,000 feet above see level at the
equator and these came down to the shore.

Also organisms that can survive such temperatures as the deepfreeze that
would have survived back then still survive today and much unchanged such as
Cyanobacteria and certain kinds of algae. Even some organisms can survive
the extreme temperatures that followed such an organisms discovered in the
late 1970’s that were actually living in places once thought to harsh to harbor
human life such as the seafloor hot springs.

How did it occur?

How it occurred is the interesting part as in Scientific American’s article Snowball

Earth By Paul F Hoffman and David P Schrag “ The breakup of a single landmass
770 million years ago leaves small continents scattered near the equator.
Formerly land-locked areas are now closer to the oceanic sources of moisture.
Increased rainfall scrubs more heat-trapping carbon dioxide out of the air and
erodes continental rocks more quickly. Consequently, global temperatures fall,
and large ice packs form in the polar oceans. The white ice reflects more solar
energy than does darker seawater, driving temperatures even lower. This
feedback cycle triggers an unstoppable cooling effect that will engulf the
planet in icy within a millennium.” This effect is what is known as ice-albedo and
is usually observed when icebergs grow. The event if it is true would have
caused the earths temperature to plummet to -50 degrees celsius and without
having the ability to properly heat without the carbon cycle in effect the carbon
would go into the air much slower and there would be less carbon dioxide
around the earth. This would create something called the runaway freeze.

How did it thaw?

The thawing as hypothesized would be from volcanic eruptions but not

necessarily the heat caused by them but the carbon dioxide that would be
emitted from them and cause a greenhouse effect slowly melting the ice. When
enough of the ice is melted the oceans would start to be exposed to light and
absorbing light better than the previous ice that was there. The water would
then evaporate and work along with the carbon dioxide to produce a stronger
greenhouse condition. In Scientific American’s article Snowball Earth By Paul F
Hoffman and David P Schrag they hypothesis that this would have created a
temperature of up to 50 degrees celsius. Melting the ice and sending the earth
into a Hothouse. Slowly to return to the norm we know today across the globe.

Carbon Cycle

The carbon cycle is natures way of reusing carbon atoms. The main sources are
carbon in rocks and in the ocean but it is also in the atmosphere warming the
planet witch in turn gives carbon dioxide back to the atmosphere in
evaporation of the oceans or even through the burning of carbon like in fires or
in the use of fossil fuels.Almost all life on earth has carbon in them but we are all
just borrowing it from the carbon cycle.

Reference

Snowball Earth, January 2000. by Paul F Hoffman and Daniel P Schrog. Scientific
American