The Huronian glaciation (or Makganyene glaciation) extended from 2400 Mya to 2100 Mya, during the Siderian and Rhyacian periods of the Paleoproterozoic era, triggered by the Great Oxygenation Event (GEO), which oxidised the atmospheric methane (a greenhouse gas). It was one of the most severe and longest ice ages in geologic history, similar to the Snowball Earth ice ages that happened in the Neoproterozoic era.[1][2][3][4] It was named due to evidence collected from Lake Huron region in North America where three separate horizons of glacial deposits are separated by non-glacial sediment.
The cause of the Huronian glaciation is not settled:
- perhaps triggered by the oxygen catastrophe;
- perhaps by a 250 million year lull in volcanic activity, resulting in lesser carbon dioxide levels and a reduced greenhouse effect.
[edit] References
- ^ Lane, Nick (05 February 2010). "First breath: Earth's billion-year struggle for oxygen". New Scientist (2746). http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527461.100-first-breath-earths-billionyear-struggle-for-oxygen.html. A snowball period, c2.4–c2.0 Gya, triggered by the Great Oxygenation Event [1]
- ^ Williams G.E.; Schmidt P.W. (1997). "Paleomagnetism of the Paleoproterozoic Gowganda and Lorrain formations, Ontario: low palaeolatitude for Huronian glaciation" (PDF). EPSL 153 (3): 157–169. Bibcode 1997E&PSL.153..157W. DOI:10.1016/S0012-821X(97)00181-7. http://www.cosis.net/abstracts/EAE03/08262/EAE03-J-08262.pdf.
- ^ Evans, D.A.; Beukes, N.J.; Kirschvink, J.L. (March 1997). "Low-latitude glaciation in the Palaeoproterozoic era". Nature 386 (6622): 262–6. Bibcode 1997Natur.386..262E. DOI:10.1038/386262a0. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v386/n6622/abs/386262a0.html.
- ^ Kopp, Robert E.; Kirschvink, Joseph L.; Hilburn, Isaac A.; Nash, Cody Z. (2005). "The Paleoproterozoic snowball Earth: A climate disaster triggered by the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 102 (32): 11131–6. Bibcode 2005PNAS..10211131K. DOI:10.1073/pnas.0504878102. PMC 1183582. PMID 16061801. http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/0504878102v1.
