Glacial fluctuations in the Cryogenian Marinoan Snowball Earth

IF 7.2 1区 地球科学 Q1 GEOSCIENCES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY
Gang Wang , Kun Zhao , Jingxuan Zhang , Shengxian Zhu , Chaochao Xing , Xianguo Lang
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Abstract

The Marinoan glaciation represents the pinnacle of glacial severity in Earth’s geological history. Deep-water glacial deposits have revealed a complex interplay of at least two glacial advance-retreat cycles. However, the extent to which these glacial episodes are mirrored in shallow-water settings has received less attention. To shed light on this, we undertook an exhaustive lithofacies analysis of three shallow-water sections within the Nantuo Formation in South China. Our findings delineate six distinct lithofacies within the Nantuo Formation: massive diamictite, crudely stratified diamictite, pebbly sandstone, massive sandstone, dropstone-bearing laminated siltstone/mudstone, and laminated mudstone/siltstone. The vertical successions of these lithofacies have allowed us to identify two facies associations indicative of glacial dynamics; they are the ice-grounding line fan facies association and the ice-distal facies association. By juxtaposing our findings with the facies analysis of three deep-water sections, we have established a lateral correlation, confirming the presence of at least two glacial advance and retreat cycles in shallow-water environments. Each glacial advance is marked by the presence of inversely graded massive diamictite, indicative of ice-proximal, glaciomarine conditions. In contrast, each retreat phase is characterized by a fining-upward sequence from siltstone to mudstone, interspersed with dropstones, signifying ice-distal, glaciomarine settings. This study not only underscores the dynamic character of the Marinoan snowball Earth glaciation but also suggests that the glacial oscillations observed in deep-water environments have counterparts in shallow waters. It provides evidence that the scale of the Marinoan glacial fluctuations was not confined to the deep ocean but extended to encompass the entire basin, offering a more comprehensive understanding of the Earth’s climatic and glacial history during this critical period.

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来源期刊
Gondwana Research
Gondwana Research 地学-地球科学综合
CiteScore
12.90
自引率
6.60%
发文量
298
审稿时长
65 days
期刊介绍: Gondwana Research (GR) is an International Journal aimed to promote high quality research publications on all topics related to solid Earth, particularly with reference to the origin and evolution of continents, continental assemblies and their resources. GR is an "all earth science" journal with no restrictions on geological time, terrane or theme and covers a wide spectrum of topics in geosciences such as geology, geomorphology, palaeontology, structure, petrology, geochemistry, stable isotopes, geochronology, economic geology, exploration geology, engineering geology, geophysics, and environmental geology among other themes, and provides an appropriate forum to integrate studies from different disciplines and different terrains. In addition to regular articles and thematic issues, the journal invites high profile state-of-the-art reviews on thrust area topics for its column, ''GR FOCUS''. Focus articles include short biographies and photographs of the authors. Short articles (within ten printed pages) for rapid publication reporting important discoveries or innovative models of global interest will be considered under the category ''GR LETTERS''.
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