Category Archives: past worlds

Snowball Earth no problem for sponges

Posted on August 18, 2010 by Chris Rowan

Evidence from numerous sources seems to be converging to suggest that sponges – the first animals – emerged much earlier than the beginning of the Cambrian, and apparently sailed through severe climatic events in the Cryogenian without much trouble at all. Continue reading →

Categories: fossils, geology, paper reviews, past worlds, Proterozoic

Glacial deposits new and old in the Scottish isles

Posted on August 5, 2010 by Chris Rowan

Islay – one of the birthplaces of the Snowball Earth. And good whisky. Continue reading →

Categories: deep time, geology, outcrops, past worlds, photos, Proterozoic, rocks & minerals

How do we know Gabon’s ‘multicellular’ fossils are 2.1 billion years old?

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Chris Rowan

The fossil record prior to 550 million years ago is so patchy that every discovery is going to cause some fanfare. That is certainly case with these odd looking things, which have been proclaimed in Nature as the oldest mulitcellular … Continue reading →

Categories: fossils, geology, paper reviews, past worlds, Proterozoic

Oman’s view of the Snowball Earth

Posted on March 27, 2010 by Chris Rowan

Evidence from my field area of extreme climatic fluctuations 700 million years ago – but does it support the notion that the whole planet froze over?
Continue reading →