A movable beast: glaciation in the Ediacaran

Abstract

Ediacaran time (635–543 million years ago [Ma]) represents the dawn of macroscopic life following two Neoproterozoic Snowball Earth episodes [1], where a runaway ice-albedo effect caused the entire planet to become engulfed in ice [2,3]. (During Phanerozoic time, glaciation on Earth was limited to mid-to-high latitudes [4].) Large fossils resembling animals first appeared shortly after the last Snowball [5] but questions remain about the environment in which animal life first took hold. An enduring Ediacaran enigma is the occurrence of multiple glacial deposits on multiple continents. Were they synchronous? Were they brief Snowballs? Did the retreat of glaciation spark animal life [1]?

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