Did the #snowballEarth give complex life a boost?
Planet-wide #glaciers may have filled the #oceans with mineral nutrients.
As massive glaciers scratched and scarred #Earth’s rocky surface, they freed less-common minerals, which were later flushed into the seas as the ice melted into giant glacial rivers. These minerals in turn may have spurred nutrient cycling in the oceans, boosting the metabolism of microbial life.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/02/bulldozing-glaciers-may-have-spurred-evolution-in-the-ocean/

When you consider the Earth is 4.4 billion years old, and complex Life only came about due to a calamity shaking things up 800 million years ago...the chances of bountiful biospheres like ours must be pretty slim.

1. We must cherish this planet for the rare jewel it is.
2. There's probably a lot of easily terraformable worlds out there that could suit us nicely with a bit of work.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/02/bulldozing-glaciers-may-have-spurred-evolution-in-the-ocean/?ICID=ref_fark

The Physics of Cold Water May Have Jump-Started Complex #Life
When #seawater gets cold, it gets viscous. This fact could explain how single-celled #ocean creatures became multicellular when the planet was frozen during “#SnowballEarth,” according to experiments.
The prevailing scientific view is that such frigid temperatures would slow rather than speed evolution. But fossil records from 720 to 635MYA show an #evolutionary spurt preceding the development of #animals.
https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-physics-of-cold-water-may-have-jump-started-complex-life-20240724/

Longer #SnowballEarth deglaciation could have driven multiple phases of #SeaLevelRise and fall https://phys.org/news/2024-12-longer-snowball-earth-deglaciation-driven.html

Melting the #Marinoan Snowball Earth: The impact of #deglaciation duration on the sea-level history of continental margins. By Freya Morris et al. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X24005648

"The #Cryogenian period is believed to have played a significant role in the emergence of complex, multicellular life, with animal and algal-based ecosystems beginning to appear once the ice sheets retreated"

Thinking again about that 1-2 billion year window of when life is ideal for stuff like us wacky Humans but how many other worlds out there might just need a nudge in the right direction to make them habitable...

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240918165736.htm

Explaining dramatic planetwide changes after world's last #SnowballEarth event
https://phys.org/news/2024-09-planetwide-world-snowball-earth-event.html

Three-stage formation of cap carbonates after Marinoan snowball glaciation consistent with depositional timescales and geochemistry https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-51412-8

"Life on Earth was simple—in the form of #microbes, #algae or other tiny aquatic organisms—for over 2 billion years leading up to Snowball Earth... Then 2 Snowball Earth events occurred. And soon after, animals appear in the fossil record"

The term " #Neoproterozoic #fossil record " still feels odd, but this is just how our understanding has progressed.
Now, with the added layer of inhabited terrestrial #environments before #SnowballEarth.
(also, possibly a critical part of the #evolution of life, if you care about that sort of thing)
https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2319628121

4-Oct-2024
Life on Earth was more diverse than classical theory suggests 800 million years ago, a Brazilian study shows

According to an article published in the journal PNAS, different lineages of #amoebae and ancestors of #plants, #algae and animals were already established in the #Neoproterozoic period and survived the two glaciations that covered the entire planet.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1060345

18-Sep-2024
Explaining dramatic planetwide changes after world’s last ‘#SnowballEarth’ event

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1058532 #science #geology #earth

Uncovering “Snowball Earth”: Hidden Rock Record Unveils Secrets of Earth’s Deep Freeze
https://scitechdaily.com/uncovering-snowball-earth-hidden-rock-record-unveils-secrets-of-earths-deep-freeze/ #geology #climate #SnowballEarth #evolution

Ein „Golden Spike“ für den Schneeball Erde. Geologen finden vollständigste Schichten der Eiszeit vor rund 720 Millionen Jahren. #SnowballEarth #GoldenSpike #GSSP #Geologie #Erdgeschichte #Cryogenium #Stratigrafie
https://www.scinexx.de/news/geowissen/ein-golden-spike-fuer-den-schneeball-erde/

#Irish-#Scottish rock formation may be rare record of ‘#SnowballEarth’ period - https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/aug/16/irish-scottish-rock-formation-may-be-rare-record-of-snowball-earth-period
#Geology #Scotland #Ireland

#Geology news:

𝗦𝗰𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 '𝗦𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵'

The #Garvellach islands off the west coast of #Scotland are the best record of #Earth entering its biggest ever #IceAge around 720 million years ago, researchers have discovered.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj9l2mrn43jo via #BBC

CC BY-SA 2.0 © Donald MacDonald via https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/243191

Scottish and Irish rocks confirmed as rare record of 'snowball Earth'
https://phys.org/news/2024-08-scottish-irish-rare-snowball-earth.html paper: https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/full/10.1144/jgs2024-029

The Port Askaig Formation was likely laid down between 662 to 720 million years ago during the #SturtianGlaciation—the first of two global freezes thought to have triggered the development of complex, multicellular life. One exposed outcrop of the formation is unique as it shows the transition into #SnowballEarth from a previously warm, tropical environment.

Scotland like Mauritius?
It was a long time ago

Scottish isles may solve mystery of 'Snowball Earth'

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj9l2mrn43jo

The Garvellach islands, just south of Mull, have fabulous rocks preserving detailed records of repeated Neoproterozoic "snowball Earth" glaciations. But the exact age, and correlation with similar rocks elsewhere, has been controversial. New #OpenAccess paper shows that the sequence seems entirely Sturtian (older than 662 million years) + may be the most complete Sturtian section preserved on Earth.https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/full/10.1144/jgs2024-029 #Cryogenian #SnowballEarth #Geology @Ruth_Mottram @TatianaIlyina

'Golden spike' showing the moment Earth turned into a giant snowball discovered in ancient Scottish rocks
https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/geology/golden-spike-showing-the-moment-earth-turned-into-a-giant-snowball-discovered-in-ancient-scottish-rocks #geology #SnowballEarth #GoldenSpike #Cry

*Back when the Earth was alive and evolving, but encased in a shell of ice, much like the moon Europa #SnowballEarth

https://www.wired.com/story/the-physics-of-cold-water-may-have-jump-started-complex-life/

"As seawater gets colder, it grows thicker. It’s basic physics — the density and viscosity of water molecules rises as the temperature drops. Under the conditions of Snowball Earth, the ocean would have been twice or even four times as viscous as it was before the planet froze over. Simpson wondered what it would have been like to be a microscopic organism in the ocean during Snowball Earth."

https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-physics-of-cold-water-may-have-jump-started-complex-life-20240724/

Snowball Earth’s Environmental Conditions Gave Multicellular Organisms Evolutionary Advantage
https://www.sci.news/paleontology/snowball-earth-multicellularity-13063.html #geology #biology #Cryogenian #SnowballEarth #multicellularity