The Elatina glaciation, late Cryogenian (Marinoan Epoch), South Australia: Sedimentary facies and palaeoenvironments

Williams, George E.; Gostin, Victor A.; McKirdy, David M.; Preiss, W. V.

doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2007.12.001

Cited by 88 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…If the Whyalla Sandstone spans part of the peak Marinoan glacial sequence as others have suggested (Williams et al, 2008), our observations imply that the Marinoan glaciation in South Australia was less severe than suggested by the snowball Earth hypothesis. We explore a range of implications for the snowball Earth hypothesis below:…”

Section: Implications For Snowball Earth Hypothesissupporting

confidence: 51%

“…Though stratigraphic relationships place the fluvial activity within the Whyalla Sandstone, this activity could have occurred before or after peak glaciation as reported elsewhere for fluvial and deltaic deposits in the Elatina Formation (Le Heron et al, 2011;Rose et al, 2013;Williams et al, 2008). If the deposits are generated by climatically-driven warming and occur pre-or post-glacial, then the punctuated periglacial and fluvial activity records temperature oscillations, rather than continuous rapid glacial onset or deglaciation.…”

Section: Fluvial Activity During the Marinoan Glaciationmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…The Whyalla Sandstone is interpreted as a periglacial aeolian sand sheet and thought to correlate down stratigraphic dip to the laminated siltstones and tillites of the synMarinoan, glacio-marine Elatina Formation (Preiss, 1987). Outcrop exposure between the Stuart Shelf and the ARC is poor and the correlation is primarily based upon the cold-climate facies association between the glacial Elatina Formation and periglacial Whyalla Sandstone (Preiss, 1987;Williams et al, 2008). The correlation between the Whyalla Sandstone and the Elatina Formation is strengthened by subsurface cores that demonstrate that the Nuccaleena Formation cap carbonate, which overlies the Elatina Formation, also overlies the Whyalla Sandstone in the subsurface (McGlown et al, 2012;Williams, 1998).…”

Section: Stratigraphymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The precise paleogeographic location of the Elatina Formation is a subject of some debate based upon the stratigraphic relationship between the Elatina Formation, which is estimated at 10 • North (Schmidt et al, 2009), and the overlying Nuccaleena Formation which is estimated at 14 • North (Evans and Raub, 2011). Preiss (2000) and Williams et al (2008) report a basin-wide sequence boundary at the contact between the formations. However, Rose and Maloof (2010) conclude that no regional unconformity exists between the Elatina Formation and Nuccaleena Formation based upon forty-one measured stratigraphic sections from outcrop across the ARC.…”

Section: Age and Paleogeographymentioning

confidence: 99%

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New constraints on equatorial temperatures during a Late Neoproterozoic snowball Earth glaciation

Ewing

Eisenman

Lamb

et al. 2014

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

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Intense glaciation during the end of Cryogenian time (∼635 million years ago) marks the coldest climate state in Earth history -a time when glacial deposits accumulated at low, tropical paleolatitudes. The leading idea to explain these deposits, the snowball Earth hypothesis, predicts globally frozen surface conditions and subfreezing temperatures, with global climate models placing surface temperatures in the tropics between −20 • C and −60 • C. However, precise paleosurface temperatures based upon geologic constraints have remained elusive and the global severity of the glaciation undetermined. Here we make new geologic observations of tropical periglacial, aeolian and fluvial sedimentary structures formed during the end-Cryogenian, Marinoan glaciation in South Australia; these observations allow us to constrain ancient surface temperatures. We find periglacial sand wedges and associated deformation suggest that ground temperatures were sufficiently warm to allow for ductile deformation of a sandy regolith. The wide range of deformation structures likely indicate the presence of a paleoactive layer that penetrated 2-4 m below the ground surface. These observations, paired with a model of ground temperature forced by solar insolation, constrain the local mean annual surface temperature to within a few degrees of freezing. This temperature constraint matches well with our observations of fluvial deposits, which require temperatures sufficiently warm for surface runoff. Although this estimate coincides with one of the coldest near sea-level tropical temperatures in Earth history, if these structures represent peak Marinaon glacial conditions, they do not support the persistent deep freeze of the snowball Earth hypothesis. Rather, surface temperatures near 0 • C allow for regions of seasonal surface melting, atmosphere-ocean coupling and possible tropical refugia for early metazoans. If instead these structures formed during glacial onset or deglaciation, then they have implications for the timescale and character for the transition into or out of a snowball state.

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Section: Implications For Snowball Earth Hypothesissupporting

confidence: 51%

Section: Fluvial Activity During the Marinoan Glaciationmentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Stratigraphymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Age and Paleogeographymentioning

confidence: 99%

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New constraints on equatorial temperatures during a Late Neoproterozoic snowball Earth glaciation

Ewing

Eisenman

Lamb

et al. 2014

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

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“…Both early and late Cryogenian glaciations, referred to as the Sturtian and Marinoan (based on locations in South Australia), respectively, appear to be globally distributed (Li et al, 2013). In some regions, the history of one or both glaciations is locally or regionally complex, with distinct glacial retreat intervals recognized in South Australia (Williams et al, 2008, Le Heron et al, 2011Rose et al, 2013), Namibia (Hoffman, 2011;Le Heron et al, 2013), Scotland (Spencer, 1971;Arnaud and Fairchild, 2011) and Oman (Leather et al, 2002;Rieu et al, 2007a). However, semi-continuous Cryogenian successions display a clear stratigraphic motif in which two glacial units bound an unambiguously non-glacial interval, representing a mid-Cryogenian interlude of unknown duration (~5-27 My; Rooney et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Late Cryogenian Warm Interval, NE Svalbard: Chemostratigraphy and genesis

Fairchild

Bonnand²,

Davies

et al. 2016

Precambrian Research

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General rightsThis document is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. Full terms of use are available: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/pure/about/ebr-terms At the base of E3, interstratification of cap carbonate with ice-rafted and redeposited glacial sediments occurs. Early diagenetic stabilization of carbonate mineralogy from a precursor, possibly ikaite, to calcite or dolomite is inferred. E3 is predominantly dolomitic silt-shale, with sub-millimetre lamination, lacking sand or current-related sedimentary structures. Thin fine laminae are partly pyritized and interpreted as microbial mats. Dolomite content is 25-50%, with δ 13 C values consistently around +4‰, a value attributed to buffering by dissolution of a precursor metastable carbonate phase. Local calcite cement associates with low δ 13 C values. The carbonates form silt-sized, chemically zoned rhombic crystals from an environment with dynamically changing Fe and Mn. Three-dimensional reconstructions of cm-scale disturbance structures indicate that they represent horizontally directed sock-like folds, developed by release of overpressure into thin surficial sediment overlying an early-cemented layer.A shoaling upwards unit near the top of E3 displays calcium sulphate pseudomorphs in dolomite in the north, but storm-dominated limestones in the south, both being overlain by peritidal oolitic dolomites, exposed under the succeeding Wilsonbreen glacial deposits. There is no Trezona δ 13 C anomaly, possibly implying top-truncation of the succession.Regular 0.5 m-scale sedimentary rhythms, reflecting subtle variations in sediment texture or composition occur throughout E3 and are interpreted as allocyclic. They are thought to be mainly primary in origin, locally modified slightly during early diagenetic cementation. Rhythms are proposed to represent ca. 18 kyr precession cycles, implying 6-8 Myr deposition between glaciations.

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Permafrost and climate change

Murton

2021

Climate Change

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The Elatina glaciation, late Cryogenian (Marinoan Epoch), South Australia: Sedimentary facies and palaeoenvironments

Cited by 88 publications

References 75 publications

New constraints on equatorial temperatures during a Late Neoproterozoic snowball Earth glaciation

New constraints on equatorial temperatures during a Late Neoproterozoic snowball Earth glaciation

The Late Cryogenian Warm Interval, NE Svalbard: Chemostratigraphy and genesis

Permafrost and climate change

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