Gaskiers glaciation

The Gaskiers glaciation was a cold period that happened about 579 million years ago, during the late Ediacaran Period. It was the last big icy time of the Precambrian and lasted less than 340,000 years. It was not a "Snowball Earth" because it did not cover the whole Earth in ice.

Scientists found clues about this glaciation on eight old landmasses, some near the equator. An important place is Gaskiers in Newfoundland. There, thick rocks show drops of stone that fell from glaciers, proving how cold it was.

This glaciation may have helped change the ocean. After the ice melted, oxygen in the ocean rose quickly. This may have helped ancient life forms called the Ediacaran biota grow. But careful dating shows there was a gap of about 9 million years between the end of the glaciation and when these fossils appeared. Another possible glaciation, the Bou-Azzer glaciation, found in the West African Craton, might be the same event or a later one.