Explosive Underwater Volcanoes Were A Major Feature Of 'Snowball Earth'

[senona]

Around 720-640 million years ago, much of the Earth's surface was covered in ice during a glaciation that lasted millions of years. Explosive underwater volcanoes were a major feature of this 'Snowball Earth', according to new research led by the University of Southampton.

Many aspects of this extreme glaciation remain uncertain, but it is widely thought that the breakup of the supercontinent Rodinia resulted in increased river discharge into the ocean. This changed ocean chemistry and reduced atmospheric CO2 levels, which increased global ice coverage and propelled Earth into severe icehouse conditions.

Because the land surface was then largely covered in ice, continental weathering effectively ceased. This locked the planet into a 'Snowball Earth' state until carbon dioxide released from ongoing volcanic activity warmed the atmosphere sufficiently to rapidly melt the ice cover. 

This model does not, however, explain one of the most puzzling features of this rapid deglaciation; namely the global formation of hundreds of metres thick deposits known as 'cap carbonates', in warm waters after Snowball Earth events.

"Extensive underwater volcanism during ridge spreading led to rapid alteration of volcanic deposits and major changes in ocean chemistry"

For the global warming fanatics, please read this part again....

".....This locked the planet into a 'Snowball Earth' state until carbon dioxide released from ongoing volcanic activity warmed the atmosphere sufficiently to rapidly melt the ice cover. "


Just a little lesson in the natural evolution of Planet Earth

During the breakup of Rodinia, tens of thousands of kilometres of mid-ocean ridge were formed over tens of millions of years. The lava erupted explosively in shallow waters producing large volumes of a glassy pyroclastic rock called hyaloclastite. As these deposits piled up on the sea floor, rapid chemical changes released massive amounts of calcium, magnesium and phosphorus into the ocean.

Dr Gernon explained: "We calculated that, over the course of a Snowball glaciation, this chemical build-up is sufficient to explain the thick cap carbonates formed at the end of the Snowball event.

"This process also helps explain the unusually high oceanic phosphorus levels, thought to be the catalyst for the origin of animal life on Earth."

Interesting

And see, just goes to show that Man is not to blame for every little change that has to with Mother Earth


Yes, governments like to play with their weather manipulation/geo-engineering toys
Which we have no idea what the long term effects of that will be

But basically,  Mother Nature will change and evolve on Her own, whether Man is here or not
As this article clearly shows

[guohua]

Right, Right,,, and This Gave Us Weather,,,,,,,












But seriously Senona, there's no talking to these people, they've already bought their CCCP

[727Sky]

In a study published Thursday in Science, researchers say the new map is at least twice as accurate as the previous version assembled nearly 20 years ago even though it can only resolve features that are a mile high and bigger. 


"You might think, that's not so much better, but instead of seeing 5,000 old volcanoes down there, now we can see 10,000," said David Sandwell, a geophysics professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego who led the study. 



Scientists know remarkably little about the deep-sea floor. Sandwell thinks of it almost as a separate planet in our solar system that we have only begun to explore.
 

"We have maps of Mars that have 100 to 10,000 times more resolution than maps of the deep ocean," he said. 


To create the new map, the researchers used data collected by two satellite observatories: the European Space Agency's CryoSat-2, and the Jason-1, operated by NASA and the French space agency CNES. Both spacecraft have instruments that can measure the topography of the ocean surface within a fraction of an inch. 
 

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