# Gaskiers glaciation

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Last major glacial event of the Precambrian

Proterozoic snowball periods This box: view talk edit −750 — – −725 — – −700 — – −675 — – −650 — – −625 — – −600 — – −575 — – −550 — – −525 — Tonian Cryogenian Ediacaran Cambrian Sturtian[1] Marinoan[1] Gaskiers Baykonurian Neoproterozoic era Snowball Earth Estimate of Proterozoic glacial periods.[1][2][a] Vertical axis: millions of years ago

The **Gaskiers glaciation** is a period of widespread [glacial deposits](/source/Glacial_deposit) (e.g. [diamictites](/source/Diamictite)) that lasted around 250,000 years, between 579.88 ± 0.44 and 579.63 ± 0.15 million years ago[3] — i.e. late in the [Ediacaran](/source/Ediacaran) Period — making it the last major glacial event of the [Proterozoic](/source/Proterozoic).[4] It was also the last and the shortest of at least three major ice ages in the [Neoproterozoic](/source/Neoproterozoic) era. It is assumed that, in contrast to the [Sturtian](/source/Sturtian_glaciation) and [Marinoan](/source/Marinoan_glaciation) glaciations, it did not lead to global glaciation ("[Snowball Earth](/source/Snowball_Earth)").[5]

Deposits attributed to the Gaskiers — assuming that they were all deposited at the same time — have been found on eight separate [paleocontinents](/source/Paleocontinent), in some cases occurring close to the [equator](/source/Equator) (at a latitude of 10–30°). The 300-metre-thick (984 ft) name-bearing section at [Gaskiers](/source/Gaskiers-Point_La_Haye) ([Newfoundland](/source/Newfoundland_(island))) is packed full of striated [dropstones](/source/Dropstone).[3] Its [δ13C](/source/%CE%9413C) values are very low (pushing 8‰), consistent with a period of environmental abnormality.[3] The bed lies just below some of the oldest fossils of the [Ediacaran biota](/source/Ediacaran_biota), leading to early suggestions that the passing of the glaciation and the subsequent sharp rise in the [oxygen](/source/Oxygen) levels in the ocean may have paved the way for the evolution of these odd organisms.[6] More accurate dating methods have shown that there is a 9-million-year gap between the diamictites and the 570 million year old macrofossils.[3]

The **Bou-Azzer glaciation**, an Ediacaran glaciation known from evidence collected from the [West African Craton](/source/West_African_craton), may be equivalent to the Gaskiers glaciation. Alternatively, it has also been suggested to have been part of a glacial event later in the Ediacaran.[5]

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Dating of pre-Gaskiers glaciations is uncertain. As for the [Kaigas](/source/Kaigas), its very existence is doubted by some. The [Huronian glaciation](/source/Huronian_glaciation) is not shown; there is a lack of any significant evidence for a Snowball Earth during the time period.

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Pu_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Pu_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Pu_1-2) Pu, J.P. (2016). "Dodging snowballs: Geochronology of the Gaskiers glaciation and the first appearance of the Ediacaran biota". *[Geology](/source/Geology_(journal))*. **44** (11): 955–958. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2016Geo....44..955P](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016Geo....44..955P). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1130/G38284.1](https://doi.org/10.1130%2FG38284.1). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [31142776](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:31142776).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Smith2009_2-0)** Smith, A. G. (2009). "Neoproterozoic timescales and stratigraphy". *Geological Society, London, Special Publications*. **326** (1): 27–54. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2009GSLSP.326...27S](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009GSLSP.326...27S). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1144/SP326.2](https://doi.org/10.1144%2FSP326.2). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [129706604](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:129706604).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-eb_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-eb_4-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-eb_4-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-eb_4-3) Pu, Judy P.; Bowring, Samuel A.; Ramezani, Jahandar; Myrow, Paul; Raub, Timothy D.; Landing, Ed; Mills, Andrea; Hodgin, Eben; MacDonald, Francis A. (2016). "Dodging snowballs: Geochronology of the Gaskiers glaciation and the first appearance of the Ediacaran biota". *Geology*. **44** (11): 955. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2016Geo....44..955P](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016Geo....44..955P). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1130/G38284.1](https://doi.org/10.1130%2FG38284.1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** F. M. Gradstein, Gabi Ogg, Mark Schmitz, *The Geologic Time Scale*, Elsevier, 2012, p. 428.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-VernhetEtAl2012_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-VernhetEtAl2012_6-1) Vernhet, E.; Youbi, N.; Chellai, E. H.; Villeneuve, M.; El Archi, A. (February 2012). ["The Bou-Azzer glaciation: Evidence for an Ediacaran glaciation on the West African Craton (Anti-Atlas, Morocco)"](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S030192681100249X). *[Precambrian Research](/source/Precambrian_Research)*. 196–197: 106–112. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2012PreR..196..106V](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012PreR..196..106V). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/j.precamres.2011.11.009](https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.precamres.2011.11.009). Retrieved 17 December 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Canfield_DE_et_al._(2007)_7-0)** D. E. Canfield, S. W. Poulton, G. M. Narbonne (January 2007). ["Late-Neoproterozoic deep-ocean oxygenation and the rise of animal life"](https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.1135013). *Science*. **315** (5808): 92–95. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2007Sci...315...92C](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007Sci...315...92C). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1126/science.1135013](https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.1135013). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [17158290](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17158290). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [24761414](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:24761414).{{[cite journal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_journal)}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_multiple_names:_authors_list))

v t e Ice ages Mesoarchean Pongola (2.985 to 2.837 Bya) Paleoproterozoic Huronian (2.4 to 2.1 Bya) Cryogenian Sturtian (717 to 660 Mya); Marinoan (654.5 to 632.3 Mya) Ediacaran Gaskiers (579.88 to 579.63 Mya) Baykonurian (547 to 540 Mya) Paleozoic Hirnantian (460 to 420 Mya) Late Paleozoic icehouse (360 to 255 Mya) Quaternary / Late Cenozoic Paleogene Neogene Antarctic (34 to 2.5 Mya) Quaternary Antarctica Greenland Penultimate Glacial Period Last Glacial Period (Last Glacial Maximum, Older and Younger Dryas) 1st: Würm, Wisconsin, Weichselian, Devensian/Midlandian, Pinedale/Fraser, Merida, Llanquihue 2nd: Riss, Illinoian, Saale, Wolstonian, Santa María 3rd–6th: Mindel, Pre-Illinoian, Elster, Anglian, Rio Llico 7th–8th: Günz, Pre-Illinoian, Elbe or Menapian, Beestonian, Caracol (2.5 to Present) Related topics Glacial period Greenhouse and icehouse Earth Great Oxidation Event Little Ice Age Snowball Earth Interglacial Milankovitch cycles Stadial Timeline of glaciation

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