The Pongola glaciation is a glacial episode that occurred in the Mesoarchean, 2.9 Ga ago for about 150 Ma. It is the oldest known glaciation on the planet.

Geology

The oldest known traces of glaciation date from the Mesoarchean. They correspond to the diamictite of the Pongola supergroup[1] (more precisely to the Mozaan formation[2]), in KwaZulu-Natal and in Eswatini.[3]

Climate

Even if the climate of the Archean is not well known, the study of the oxygen isotopes in the cherts of the time seem to show that the climate of the Archean was warm or, at least, temperate,[4] in particular due to high levels of methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; a glaciation around 2.9 Ga is therefore likely to have been caused by a drop in the rate of these greenhouse gases.[5][6] The Pongola glaciation is also associated with changes in sulfur isotopes (δ34S), suggesting that this may also involve early and short-lived oxygenation of the Earth's atmosphere.[7][8]

Extension

The extension of the glaciation is not determined with certainty.[9][8] Some authors argue that the glacial deposits were formed at low latitudes, below 30° N,[10] therefore close to the tropics, which would imply extensive glaciation, while others argue that the area was located at mid-latitude[note 1] or even high latitude, closer to the pole, where a polar glacier could have formed, like the current situation.[11][12]

Regarding its duration, the corresponding glacial deposits fall within the interval 2985 ± 1 and 2837 ± 5 Ma.[8][13]

Notes & references

Notes

  1. ↑ The oldest known midlatitude glaciation, recorded in the Pongola Supergroup diamictite, occurred at 2.9 Ga.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Kopp et alii 2005.
  2. ↑ USGS 2008, p. 86.
  3. ↑ University of KwaZulu-Natal.
  4. ↑ Kasting & Howard 2006.
  5. ↑ Kasting & Ono 2006.
  6. ↑ Young et al. 1998.
  7. ↑ Zalasiewicz & Williams 2012, p. 30.
  8. 1 2 3 & USGS 2008, p. 86-87.
  9. ↑ Deconinck.
  10. ↑ El Albani, Macchiarelli & Meunier 2016, p. 15.
  11. ↑ & USGS 2008, p. 87.
  12. ↑ Zalasiewicz & Williams 2012, p. 23.
  13. ↑ Zalasiewicz & Williams 2012, p. 16.

See also

Bibliography

  • J.F. Deconinck. "Variabilité climatique et cycles géodynamiques" (PDF) (in French). CNRS.
  • "Pongola supergroup. The first record of ancient life". University of KwaZulu-Natal. University of KwaZulu-Natal.
  • Young, Grant M.; von Brunn, Victor; Gold, Digby J. C.; Minter, W. E. L. (1998). "Earth's Oldest Reported Glaciation: Physical and Chemical Evidence from the Archean Mozaan Group (~2.9 Ga) of South Africa". The Journal of Geology. 106 (5): 523-538. doi:10.1086/516039. S2CID 129717765.
  • Robert E. Kopp; Joseph L. Kirschvink; Isaac A. Hilburn; Cody Z. Nash (9 August 2005). "The Paleoproterozoic snowball Earth: A climate disaster triggered by the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis". PNAS. 102 (32): 11131–11136. doi:10.1073/pnas.0504878102. PMC 1183582. PMID 16061801. Kopp et alii.
  • Gold, D.J.C.; Johnson, M.R.; Anhaeusser, C.R.; Thomas, Bob (2006). "The Pongola Supergroup. The geology of South Africa". Geol. Soc. South Afr.: 135-148.
  • James F Kasting; Shuhei Ono (29 June 2006). "Palaeoclimates: the first two billion years". Philosophical Transactions B. 361 (1470): 917–929. doi:10.1098/rstb.2006.1839. PMC 1868609. PMID 16754607.
  • Kasting, James F.; Howard, M. Tazewell (29 October 2006). "Atmospheric composition and climate on the early Earth". Philosophical Transactions B. 361 (1474): 1733–1742. doi:10.1098/rstb.2006.1902. PMC 1664689. PMID 17008214.
  • Antarctica: A Keystone in a Changing World. National Academies Press. 2008. ISBN 9780309118545. USGS 2008.
  • Jan Zalasiewicz; Mark Williams (2012). The Goldilocks Planet: The 4 billion year story of Earth's climate. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-959357-6.
  • Alain R. Meunier (2014). La naissance de la Terre (in French). Dunod. p. 235.
  • El Albani, Abderrazak; Macchiarelli, Roberto; Meunier, Alain R. (2016). Aux origines de la vie: Une nouvelle histoire de l'évolution (in French). Dunod. ISBN 9782100748259.
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