Huronian Ice Age
(Redirected from Huronian glaciation)
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A Huronian Ice Age is an Ice Age period that extended from 2.5 billion years ago (Gya) to 2.2 Gya.
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- See: Extinction Event, Great Oxygenation Period, Huronian Supergroup, Paleoproterozoic, Diamictite, Stratigraphic Record, Geological Formation, Great Oxygenation Event.
References
2022
- (Wikipedia, 2022) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huronian_glaciation Retrieved:2022-12-9.
- The Huronian glaciation (or Makganyene glaciation) was a period where several ice ages occurred during the deposition of the Huronian Supergroup, rather than a single continuous event as it is commonly misrepresented to be. The deposition of this group extended from 2.5 billion years ago (Gya) to 2.2 Gya, during the Siderian and Rhyacian periods of the Paleoproterozoic era. This led to the deposition of several diamictites. Most of the deposits of the Huronian are typical passive margin deposits in a marine setting. The diamictites within the Huronian are on par in thickness with Quaternary analogs. Evidence for the Huronian comes from glacial deposits identified within the stratigraphic record of the Huronian Supergroup. Within it are three distinct formations of diamictite, from the oldest to youngest, the Ramsay, Bruce, and Gowganda Formations. Although there are other glacial deposits recognized throughout the world, the Huronian is restricted to the North American Midwest. Other similar deposits are known from South Africa. The Huronian glaciation broadly coincides with the Great Oxygenation Event (GOE), a time when increased atmospheric oxygen decreased atmospheric methane. The oxygen combined with the methane to form carbon dioxide and water, reducing the efficacy of the greenhouse effect as water precipitated out of the air. [1] The combination of increasing free oxygen and climatic stresses likely caused an extinction event, the first and longest lasting in the Earth's history.