2023-07-30 04:00:39
717 million years ago, one of the greatest volcanic eruptions in history would have transformed our planet into “Snowball Earth”. This is revealed by a recent study. Volcanic rocks are particularly susceptible to a chemical reaction that “sucks” CO2 from theatmosphere.
Crédit: Ernir Eyjolfsson/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
These massive eruptions, which occurred in what is now northern Canada, produced lava flows that formed into a high volcanic plateau covering an area three times the size of Texas. These new rocks were then watered by acid rain, which probably sets off a chemical reaction enveloping the Earth in ice for 57 million years.
Scientists already thought that this volcanic eruption could be the cause of this episode of glaciation called the Sturtian glaciation. Still, the exact mechanisms were unclear. “Nothing can be understood in isolation,” said Galen Pippa Halverson, professor of geology at theMcGill University in Canada and co-author of the new study.
According to the study, volcanic eruptions can cool the planet in two main ways. They release gases containing particles rich in sulfur who block the light of Soleil. But they can also change the climate by a chemical reaction called weathering, to which volcanic rocks are particularly sensitive.
The volcanic eruption set off a series of chemical reactions that may have covered the Earth in ice.
Crédit: Universal History Archive/ Universal Images Group via Getty Images
To understand what mechanism triggered the Sturtian glaciation, researchers had to determine precisely when the volcanic eruption took place. Sulfur particles remain suspended in the atmosphere for months to years, while rock weathering takes 1 to 2 million years to cause global cooling.
According to the study, weathering of rocks elsewhere in the world may have contributed to the cooling effect. The eruptions and ensuing glaciation occurred at a time when Earth’s continents formed a single large landmass around the equator, the supercontinent Rodinia. This tropical land mass has been frequently battered by rain, leading to further weathering and CO2 sequestration.
However, some experts remain skeptical. Paul Hoffman, professor emeritus of geology at theHarvard Universitysaid the timing of the Sturtian glaciation is still debated.
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