EdGCM: Climate Modeling for Research and Education - Snowball Earth: Effect of Obliquity

Outreach - Student Projects
Written by John Swain and Jeremiah Marsicek
Wednesday, 09 May 2007
Figure 1: Sturtian Paleogeography compared to present day geography Geologic evidence suggests that during the Sturtian period (~750Ma) of the Neoproterozoic Era the Earth was blanketed by snow and ice. Glacial deposits are found on all continents, including regions that were at low latitudes. Hoffman et al. (1998) brought the snowball Earth hypothesis to the forefront of paleoclimatic scientific interest by offering a specific explanation for the presence of glacial rock formations in mid to low latitude regions, the occurrence of cap carbonates, and the apparent collapse in surface ocean microorganisms. Our experiments using EdGCM examine the possibility that altered obliquity is an alternative possibility for the formation of low latitude glacial deposits. Submitted in partial fulfillment of: Course No. AOS 331, Prof. Jack Williams, Dept of Geography, U. Wisconsin - Madison. Fall 2006

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