2002/12/01 by Yannick Donnadieu, Gilles Ramstein, Frédéric Fluteau +2 · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils #Geological and Geochemical Analysis
paper · pdf · doi:10.1029/2002gl015902
openalex publication_date 2002/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/27
The main features of the low‐latitude Neoproterozoic glaciations remain the subject of controversial debates concerning possible triggers. Here we use an AGCM coupled with a slab ocean to test one of the earliest and simplest explanation for tropical glaciations: a higher obliquity of the Earth's rotation axis. We show that high obliquity may result in an extensive glaciation during the Sturtian episode (750 Ma), due to the location of continental masses in the tropical areas, but cannot produce a large glaciation in the case of mid to high latitude paleogeographies such as those thought to typify the Varangian‐Vendian episodes (620–580 Ma).