Sturtian glaciation

Events of the Cryogenian Period

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-760 —

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-740 —

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-720 —

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-700 —

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-680 —

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-660 —

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-640 —

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-620 —

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Cryogenian

Ediacaran

Tonian

 

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Marinoan^[1]

Sturtian^[1][2]

←

First sponge-like animal?^[3]

←

Kaigas glaciation?^[4]

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First demosponges.^[5]

 Major Glacial period

The Sturtian glaciation was a glaciation during the Cryogenian Period, when the Earth experienced repeated large-scale glaciations. The Sturtian glaciation was the longest one, lasting around 60 million years,^[1] from 717–660 Ma.^[6]

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.^[7]

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

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. Brain, C. K.; Prave, A. R.; Hoffmann, K. H.; Fallik, A. E.; Herd D. A.; Sturrock, C.; Young, I.; Condon, D. J.; Allison, S. G. (2012). "The first animals: ca. 760-million-year-old sponge-like fossils from Namibia". S. Afr. J. Sci. 108 (8): 1–8. doi:10.4102/sajs.v108i1/2.658.
4. Macdonald, F. A.; Schmitz, M. D.; Crowley, J. L.; Roots, C. F.; Jones, D. S.; Maloof, A. C.; Strauss, J. V.; Cohen, P. A.; Johnston, D. T.; Schrag, D. P. (4 March 2010). "Calibrating the Cryogenian". Science. 327 (5970): 1241–1243. doi:10.1126/science.1183325. PMID 20203045. (Duration and magnitude are enigmatic)
5. "Discovery of possible earliest animal life pushes back fossil record". phys.org. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
6. 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.
7. 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. Earth's Glacial Record. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 5–10. ISBN 0521548039.