Calibrating the terminations of Cryogenian global glaciations

Research Article| February 06, 2019 Calibrating the terminations of Cryogenian global glaciations Chuanming Zhou; Chuanming Zhou * 1CAS Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Center for Excellence in Life and Palaeoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China *E-mail: cmzhou@nigpas.ac.cn Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Magdalena H. Huyskens; Magdalena H. Huyskens 2Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California at Davis, Davis, California 95616-8605, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Xianguo Lang; Xianguo Lang 1CAS Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Center for Excellence in Life and Palaeoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Shuhai Xiao; Shuhai Xiao 3Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Qing-Zhu Yin Qing-Zhu Yin 2Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California at Davis, Davis, California 95616-8605, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Chuanming Zhou * 1CAS Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Center for Excellence in Life and Palaeoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China Magdalena H. Huyskens 2Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California at Davis, Davis, California 95616-8605, USA Xianguo Lang 1CAS Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and Center for Excellence in Life and Palaeoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China Shuhai Xiao 3Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA Qing-Zhu Yin 2Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California at Davis, Davis, California 95616-8605, USA *E-mail: cmzhou@nigpas.ac.cn Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 18 Oct 2018 Revision Received: 08 Jan 2019 Accepted: 08 Jan 2019 First Online: 06 Feb 2019 Online Issn: 1943-2682 Print Issn: 0091-7613 © 2019 Geological Society of America Geology (2019) 47 (3): 251–254. https://doi.org/10.1130/G45719.1 Article history Received: 18 Oct 2018 Revision Received: 08 Jan 2019 Accepted: 08 Jan 2019 First Online: 06 Feb 2019 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Chuanming Zhou, Magdalena H. Huyskens, Xianguo Lang, Shuhai Xiao, Qing-Zhu Yin; Calibrating the terminations of Cryogenian global glaciations. Geology 2019;; 47 (3): 251–254. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G45719.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Cryogenian Sturtian and Marinoan glacial and associated strata record the most severe paleoclimatic events in Earth history and are the main test ground of the snowball Earth hypothesis (SEH). The SEH predicts that both Sturtian and Marinoan deglaciations were globally synchronous, rapid, and catastrophic. The sharp transition from glacial diamictite to the overlying cap dolostone represents a key event during these deglaciations. Thus, a positive test for globally synchronous deglaciation requires high-precision radiometric dates to tightly bracket this transition on each paleocontinent and within every substantial sedimentary basin; however, such high-resolution dates are scarce and have limited stratigraphic and paleogeographic coverage. Here, we report two high-precision U-Pb zircon chemical abrasion–isotope dilution–thermal ionization mass spectrometry ages of 658.80 ± 0.50 Ma and 634.57 ± 0.88 Ma from tuffaceous layers that occur, respectively, within the cap dolostone atop the Tiesi’ao diamictite (Sturtian age) and at the topmost Nantuo diamictite (Marinoan age) in South China. The 658.80 ± 0.50 Ma age represents a high-precision minimum age constraint on the termination of the Sturtian-age glaciation. The 634.57 ± 0.88 Ma age and a previously published age of 635.23 ± 0.57 Ma from the topmost cap dolostone are indistinguishable within uncertainty, and together they provide tight constraints on the termination of the Marinoan glaciation in South China at ca. 635 Ma and directly bracket the duration of the cap dolostone to be <106 yr. The new data support the rapid termination of the Marinoan glaciation in South China and are consistent with global synchroneity of Cryogenian deglaciation events. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.