9df8df52-d6af-37a8-e044-0003ba9b0d98 English dataset British Geological Survey +44 115 936 3100 Environmental Science Centre,Keyworth NOTTINGHAM NOTTINGHAMSHIRE NG12 5GG United Kingdom enquiries@bgs.ac.uk pointOfContact 2026-05-06 UK GEMINI 2.3 http://data.bgs.ac.uk/id/dataHolding/13605049 The Dalradian 'Snowball Earth' - Use of Stable Isotopes to Correlate Glacial Events and Neoproterozoic Stratigraphy of Scotland and Ireland 2006-09-01 creation http://data.bgs.ac.uk/id/dataHolding/13605049 PROJECT DETAILS ONLY - NO DATA. The 'snowball Earth' theory has been the subject of widespread media attention, particularly its lively defence by key proponent, Prof. Paul Hoffman. This period of earth history from 750 to 540 million years ago contained perhaps as many as 5 extreme events of climatic fluctuation. During the coldest of these the globe may have been entirely covered in ice. Until recent years research into the rocks of this age had focussed mainly on cold or hot desert areas of the world with very good outcrop and undeformed piles of sediments, but some of the most complete, but poorly exposed rock sections of this age are in more accessible areas such as Scotland and Ireland. Sediments are extremely difficult to date and ages of these rock sequences rely on the rare occurences of volcanic rocks. There is now the makings of a global framework of these glacial periods based on the isotopes of carbon in limestones, but without other dating evidence this can only say that the rocks are related to a glacial event, not which one. The isotopes of sulphur are constrained during this period by the rapid increase in the oxygen content of earth's oceans and atmosphere which resulted in the rapid evolution of many species and the development of vertebrate animals. This sulphur signal changed rapidly after the largest 'snowball Earth' event and recent studies suggest that this distinct signal might be globally recognisable. In Scotland and Ireland 3 glacial periods have been recognised in a seqence of rocks aged approximately 800 million years old at the base, 600 million about 75% of the way up from the base and containing 540-520 million year old vertebrate fossils close to the top. Linking the glacial periods to a particular global event in this 260 million year period has proved difficult. Combining new sulphur isotope data for the mineral pyrite from limestone and black shale rocks, with carbon isotope data and organic carbon content will allow these glacial events in Scotland and Ireland to be correlated and put into global context. This new data will place better age constraints on these rocks in Scotland and Ireland and improve the global understanding of this period of Earth history. Man's influence on the planet might have destabilised the climate system, so it is important that we understand the causes and effects of extreme climate variation in the past. Lowry, Dr D Royal Holloway, University of London Earth Sciences not available principalInvestigator Enquiries British Geological Survey United Kingdom not available distributor Enquiries British Geological Survey United Kingdom not available pointOfContact notApplicable https://resources.bgs.ac.uk/images/geonetworkThumbs/9df8df52-d6af-37a8-e044-0003ba9b0d98.png Geology GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 2008-06-01 publication Sedimentary geology Palaeoenvironment Climate change Earth surface BGS Thesaurus of Geosciences 2022 revision NGDC Deposited Data dataCentre NERC_DDC otherRestrictions intellectualPropertyRights Project metadata only - no data. Either : (i) the dataset has not been formally approved by BGS for access and use by external clients under license; and / or (ii) the dataset contains 3rd party data or information obtained by BGS under terms and conditions that must be consulted before the dataset can be provided to, or accessed by, BGS staff or external clients. Refer to the BGS staff member responsible for the creation of the dataset if further advice is required. He / she should be familiar with the composition of the dataset, particularly with regard to 3rd party IPR contained in it, and any resultant access restrictions. This staff member should revert to the IPR Section (IPR@bgs.ac.uk) for advice, should the position not be clear. otherRestrictions The copyright of materials derived from the British Geological Survey's work is vested in the Natural Environment Research Council [NERC]. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the prior permission of the copyright holder, via the BGS Intellectual Property Rights Manager. Use by customers of information provided by the BGS, is at the customer's own risk. In view of the disparate sources of information at BGS's disposal, including such material donated to BGS, that BGS accepts in good faith as being accurate, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the quality or accuracy of the information supplied, or to the information's suitability for any use. NERC/BGS accepts no liability whatever in respect of loss, damage, injury or other occurence however caused. Either: (i) the dataset is made freely available, e.g. via the Internet, for a restricted category of use (e.g. educational use only); or (ii) the dataset has not been formally approved by BGS for access and use by external clients under licence, but its use may be permitted under alternative formal arrangements; or (iii) the dataset contains 3rd party data or information obtained by BGS under terms and conditions that must be consulted in order to determine the permitted usage of the dataset. Refer to the BGS staff member responsible for the creation of the dataset if further advice is required. He / she should be familiar with the composition of the dataset, particularly with regard to 3rd party IPR contained in it, and any resultant use restrictions. This staff member should revert to the IPR Section (ipr@bgs.ac.uk) for advice, should the position not be clear. English geoscientificInformation British Geological Survey Gazetteer: Geographical hierarchy from Geosaurus 1979 creation EIRE [id=182000] British Geological Survey Gazetteer: Geographical hierarchy from Geosaurus 1979 creation SCOTLAND [id=140000] ISO 3166_1 alpha-3 2009 revision SCT -10.8500 2.0100 49.7500 61.0100 2006-09-01 2008-11-30 NE/E001424/1 Enquiries British Geological Survey United Kingdom not available distributor https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FE001424%2F1 information dataset dataset INSPIRE Implementing rules laying down technical arrangements for the interoperability and harmonisation of Geology 2011 publication See the referenced specification false Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services 2010-12-08 publication See http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:323:0011:0102:EN:PDF false No lineage.