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Snowball Earth

Adapted from Wikipedia · Explorer experience

An artist's view of Earth covered in ice during an ancient glacial period called the Huronian glaciation.

Snowball Earth

Snowball Earth is an idea about Earth's past. It says that long, long ago, almost all of Earth was covered in ice. This happened during a time called the Cryogenian Period, which was very cold.

There were two big times of freezing: the Sturtian and the Marinoan. During these times, ice covered most of the planet. Scientists found rocks that look like they were made by glaciers, even in places that are now warm.

People wonder if Earth was a full snowball or more like a slushball, with a little bit of water near the equator. These cold times happened before many new kinds of sea creatures appeared.

Scientists have found clues in rocks from places like Scotland, Australia, and Namibia. These clues help them understand how Earth might have frozen and then melted again.

Snowball Earth might have helped new kinds of life to develop after the ice melted. It was a very cold and mysterious time in Earth's story.

Images

A stunning view of Earth from space, captured by astronauts during the Apollo 17 mission.
A sample of diamictite rock from the Pocatello Formation in Idaho, showing layered sediments formed long ago.
A natural rock formation from the Cryogenian Period, shown in a creek bed in the Flinders Ranges National Park, with a coin for size comparison.
A giant 2.1-billion-year-old rock with striking black bands, showcasing Earth's ancient geology.
A stunning view of the Grosser Aletsch Glacier in the Bernese Alps, with snow-capped mountains like Jungfrau and Eiger in the background.
A serene view of the snow-covered landscape at Dome C Station in Antarctica, showing the vast, icy terrain typical of the continent.
A black smoker hydrothermal vent at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, showing mineral-rich water being released from the sea floor.
Fossil of Dickinsonia costata, an ancient organism from the Ediacaran period.
A fossilized ammonite from the Jurassic period, showcasing the ancient sea creature's spiral shell.

Related articles

Earth
Cryogenian
Namibia

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Snowball Earth, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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