The Scottish rocks studied by the team Dr Doug Benn (bottom right) at the glacial rocks
Posted on 01/11/2011 7:05:08 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Geoscientists in Scotland say they have evidence to disprove the controversial "Snowball Earth" theory - the idea that the planet was completely encased in ice just over 600 million years ago.
We are claiming that in reality there was not a totally frozen snowball Earth and that even during the coldest conditions large regions remained ice-free -- Dr Dan CondonThe team, from the University of St Andrews, has published its findings in the scientific journal Geology, after studying rocks in the west of Scotland, Ireland, Namibia and California. Drs Dan Condon, Tony Prave and Doug Benn say they have found evidence of sedimentary material, which could only have been derived from floating ice on open oceanic waters... The controversial theory that for millions of years the Earth was entirely smothered in ice, up to one kilometre thick, has been kicked around for more than 50 years. It rests on the apparently anomalous evidence of past glaciation in places that should have been much too hot - very near the equator. Even during the most severe ice age, many scientists thought that the ice only reached as far down as Northern Europe and the middle of the USA.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
The Scottish rocks studied by the team Dr Doug Benn (bottom right) at the glacial rocks
Flinders Ranges, thanks Ernest_at_the_Beach:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2508548/posts?page=10#10
Fossil fuels age debate (560 million year old vertebrate)
Sydney Morning Herald | October 22, 2003
Posted on 10/22/2003 6:31:11 AM PDT by dead
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1005780/posts
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At the same time the work under way to date the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains and the 3 KM of ice covering them may show that ice to date back to the period of "Snowball Earth".
A whole new era of Antarctic discovery and climatology will begin with the results of those studies.
The reason there are underground lakes and tropical temperatures under miles of ice at the poles is because what is the POLAR area now, used to be at the equator.
Areas like North America and Canada, which used to be covered with ice, were nearer to the pole.
The Earth has ‘flipped’ somewhat, over the eons. At least that is what the physical evidence suggests.
The evidence comes from the Flinders Ranges in South Australia
The rocks date to a time of dramatic glaciation on Earth< Sponges are among the simplest multi-celled organisms<
there are underground lakes and tropical temperatures under miles of ice at the polesHuh? But anyway... the reason for "snowball Earth" in the first place...
...there hasn’t been enough movement in the plate tectonics model(s) to account for the glaciation pattern. Hence, the snowball Earth idea. Kirschvink also has something called “true polar wander” as a way (alternative) to account for these same anomalous patterns. The problem of course is, continental drift was an absurdly superficial idea, and just because it’s called plate tectonics and uses some igneous rock deposits and assumptions about magnetic field orientation in them doesn’t improve it at all.
This graphic shows the tilting of the Earth that might occur if a dramatic imbalance in the planet's mass distribution ever developed in the Arctic. According to the theory of true polar wander, a heavy spot in the Arctic -- caused by a very large upwelling of magma, for instance -- would reorient the planet over 5 to 20 million years so that the heavy spot would lie at the equator, changing the orientation of the Earth in relation to its poles. New evidence uncovered by the team of Princeton geoscientist Adam Maloof shows that this sort of reorientation may have occurred in the planet's distant past. (Graphic: Maloof Laboratory)
From the article:
“Dr Condon said that others had approached the debate with a geochemical argument by examining isotopes of carbon while the St Andrews team had looked at the glacial rocks themselves.”
This makes no sense if they mean C-14 (half-life is only 5730 years) for an event in the pre-Cambrian (600 MYBP).
Does he mean relative abundance of C-12 and C-13?
They should have put the Earth into the freezer so it would be ready to throw in June.
Interestingly enough such a plume appears to have cut right through the Juan de Fuca plate under Oregon and appears to the East as Yellowstone.
On a far smaller scale the fact that Florida arches up from the Caribbean is that the magma under the crust flowed South under Florida as two miles of Ice pressed in at the North. This leaves Florida high above sea level during the short Interglacials, and possibly well below sea level during the periods of glaciation (which cuts off the Gulf Stream entirely for 100000 years.)
This has presumably happened 20+ times since the onset of the most recent period of glaciation.
This can also account for the existence of the Mississippi Valley as we see it today. Not too long ago it was a long arm of the Gulf of Mexico reaching up all the way to what is now the Ohio River. There are even sandy beaches left in unglaciated parts of Southern Indiana! They used to be on the Gulf. This is nice, fine sand too.
You do realize there is an old Bill Cosby routine about trying to save snowballs until summer, right?
I don’t remember what it comes from, but probably one of his Fat Albert routines or something about his neighborhood.
BUCK BUCK!
Meanwhile, the History Channel “documentary” on the history of the earth which features 20 minutes on “snowball earth” with full animation. Probably thousands of kids have been shown it at school.
>>You do realize there is an old Bill Cosby routine about trying to save snowballs until summer, right?<<
“I looked into the freezer — MY MOTHER HAD THROWN THE SNOWBALL AWAY
“So I went outside and I spit on him!”
(I memorized every track on every Cosby album ever)
Many things have been discovered while gazing into “Scotch Rocks”.
The plates move. It’s measurable. You deny that?
I don’t know who you are but I like ya. I remember listening to that stuff on TV and an album my old daddy used to play.
Stay safe pal.
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