Did Glaciers Cover the Planet? An Inquiry into “Snowball Earth”

Location

Science Center, K209

Document Type

Presentation

Start Date

4-26-2013 1:30 PM

End Date

4-26-2013 2:30 PM

Abstract

When the Budyko model was first analyzed in 1969, an interesting stable state for the Earth’s climate system, known as Snowball Earth, was discovered. Since then, increasing amounts of evidence have been found to show that the Earth may have experienced massive glaciations between 750 to 580 million years ago. However, the exact nature of the state is uncertain and alternative models have been proposed to explain the massive glaciations. One such model is the Jormungand model, which proposes that while most of the Earth was covered in glaciers, there was a small belt of open sea water near the equator caused by a change in the albedo of glaciers as they enter the Hadley Cell latitudes. In this presentation, we will investigate the scientific evidence of the debate and use it to formulate a model for the Jormangand state. We will then investigate the solutions and the implications of the model.

Notes

Session I, Panel 5: Metals/Models/Method: Notes on Environmental Exposure, Climatology, and Geochemical Dating Techniques
Moderator: Dennis Hubbard, Professor of Geology

Full text thesis available here.

Major

Mathematics

Advisor(s)

Robert Bosch, Mathematics

Project Mentor(s)

Jim Walsh, Mathematics

April 2013

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Apr 26th, 1:30 PM Apr 26th, 2:30 PM

Did Glaciers Cover the Planet? An Inquiry into “Snowball Earth”

Science Center, K209

When the Budyko model was first analyzed in 1969, an interesting stable state for the Earth’s climate system, known as Snowball Earth, was discovered. Since then, increasing amounts of evidence have been found to show that the Earth may have experienced massive glaciations between 750 to 580 million years ago. However, the exact nature of the state is uncertain and alternative models have been proposed to explain the massive glaciations. One such model is the Jormungand model, which proposes that while most of the Earth was covered in glaciers, there was a small belt of open sea water near the equator caused by a change in the albedo of glaciers as they enter the Hadley Cell latitudes. In this presentation, we will investigate the scientific evidence of the debate and use it to formulate a model for the Jormangand state. We will then investigate the solutions and the implications of the model.