Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com - @BednarChuck During a drastic shift in climate known as “Snowball Earth,” even places close to the planet’s warmer equatorial regions would have experienced Arctic-like temperatures, according to new research published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study authors analyzed the oxygen isotopes of rocks that had been exposed to the meltwater of ancient glaciers. They found that a global deep-freeze occurred 2.4 billion years ago, and that the annual mean temperatures were roughly -40 degrees Fahrenheit. Everything was frozen The researchers examined the oxygen isotopic composition of Proterozoic rocks that had been hydrothermally altered by ancient meteoric waters, some of which originated from glaciers that existed on “Snowball Earth.” They explained that this analysis gave them new insight into the climate and the hydrology during this stage in the planet’s history.
Read more about ‘Snowball Earth’ caused Arctic conditions in warm areas
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