Sturtian glaciation

The Sturtian glaciation was a glaciation, or perhaps multiple glaciations,[4] during the Cryogenian Period when the Earth experienced repeated large-scale glaciations.[5] The duration of the Sturtian glaciation has been variously defined,with dates ranging from 717 to 643 Ma.[6][7][4] Stern et al. place the period at 715 to 680 Ma.[8]

Events of the Cryogenian Period

-720 —

–

-710 —

–

-700 —

–

-690 —

–

-680 —

–

-670 —

–

-660 —

–

-650 —

–

-640 —

–

-630 —

N
e
o
p
r
o
t
e
r
o
z
o
i
c

Tonian

Cryogenian

Ediacaran

 

 

 

Marinoan[1]

Sturtian[1][2]

←

First demosponges.[3]

 Major Glacial period

Events of the Cryogenian period
Axis Scale: Millions of Years Ago (Ma).

According to Eyles and Young, "Glaciogenic rocks figure prominently in the Neoproterozoic stratigraphy of southeastern Australia and the northern Canadian Cordillera. The Sturtian glaciogenic succession (c. 740 Ma) unconformably overlies rocks of the Burra Group." The Sturtian succession includes two major diamictite-mudstone sequences which represent glacial advance and retreat cycles. It is stratigraphically correlated with the Rapitan Group of North America.[9]

The Sturtian is named after the Sturt River Gorge, near Bellevue Heights, South Australia.

Reusch's Moraine in northern Norway may have been deposited during this period.[10]

See also

• Adelaide Rift Complex
• Marinoan glaciation

References

1. Arnaud, Emmanuelle; Halverson, Galen P.; Shields-Zhou, Graham Anthony (30 November 2011). "Chapter 1 The geological record of Neoproterozoic ice ages". Memoirs. Geological Society of London. 36 (1): 1–16. doi:10.1144/M36.1.
2. Pu, Judy P.; Bowring, Samuel A.; Ramezani, Jahandar; Myrow, Paul; Raub, Timothy D.; Landing, Ed; Mills, Andrea; Hodgin, Eben; MacDonald, Francis A. (2016). "Dodging snowballs: Geochronology of the Gaskiers glaciation and the first appearance of the Ediacaran biota". Geology. 44 (11): 955. doi:10.1130/G38284.1.
3. "Press release: Discovery of Possible Earliest Animal Life Pushes Back Fossil Record". National Science Foundation. August 17, 2010.
4. Kendall, Brian; Creaser, Robert A.; Selby, David (September 2006). "Re-Os geochronology of postglacial black shales in Australia: Constraints on the timing of Sturtian glaciation". Geology. 34 (9): 729–732. doi:10.1130/g22775.1.
5. Arnaud, Emmanuelle; Halverson, Galen P.; Shields-Zhou, Graham Anthony (30 November 2011). "Chapter 1 The geological record of Neoproterozoic ice ages". Memoirs. 36 (1): 1–16. doi:10.1144/M36.1.
6. Macdonald, Francis A. "Neoproterozoic Glaciation". Harvard University. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
7. Rooney, Alan D.; Strauss, Justin V.; Brandon, Alan D.; Macdonald, Francis A. (2015). "A Cryogenian chronology: Two long-lasting synchronous Neoproterozoic glaciations". Geology. 43 (5): 459–462. Bibcode:2015Geo....43..459R. doi:10.1130/G36511.1.
8. Stern, R.J.; Avigad, D.; Miller, N.R.; Beyth, M. (2006). "Geological Society of Africa Presidential Review: Evidence for the Snowball Earth Hypothesis in the Arabian-Nubian Shield and the East African Orogen". Journal of African Earth Sciences. 44 (1): 1–20. Bibcode:2006JAfES..44....1S. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2005.10.003.
9. Eyles, Nicholas; Young, Grant (1994). "Geodynamic controls on glaciation in Earth history". In Deynoux, M.; Miller, J. M. G.; Domack, E. W.; Eyles, N.; Fairchild, I. J.; Young, G. M. (eds.). Earth's Glacial Record. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 5–10. ISBN 978-0521548038.
10. Arnaud, Emmanuelle; Eyles, Carolyn H. (2002). "Glacial influence on Neoproterozoic sedimentation: the Smalfjord Formation, northern Norway". Sedimentology. 49 (4): 765–788. Bibcode:2002Sedim..49..765A. doi:10.1046/j.1365-3091.2002.00466.x.