Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Snowball Earth
- Evidence
- Ancient glaciers were
discovered inside the
tropics.
- The sea bed here
contains sediemtary
structures that can only
be created by glaciers.
- Doubted because of
the runaway freeze
theory.
- This states that a certain amount of the earth was
covered in ice, high albedos would cause the ice to
constantly multiply, meaning that there was no
way back from snowball earth.
- Albedos rate the reflectiveness of
surfaces in a percentages, snow has
one of the highest albedos at 85%.
- This problem was avoided when it
was realised that increased CO2
levels had led to the demise of
snowball earth.
- Increased amounts of
volcano eruptions mean that
huge amounts of CO2 entered
the atmosphere, creating an
ultra greenhouse effect.
- Carbon from the sea sediment was
also released to increase CO2
levels.