Brought to you by that old Tor Dot Com essay of mine where I pointed out hypothetical Venusians fleeing their planet's greenhouse doom for Earth 750 million years would have found a very hostile world. The late Tonian was unpleasant and the Cryogenian was worse.
Alternatively,
Alternatively,
October 20, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Brought to you by that old Tor Dot Com essay of mine where I pointed out hypothetical Venusians fleeing their planet's greenhouse doom for Earth 750 million years would have found a very hostile world. The late Tonian was unpleasant and the Cryogenian was worse.
Alternatively,
Alternatively,
👀👀"...at least two cold climate intervals during the late Tonian Period, thereby providing novel insights into the evolution of global climate conditions in advance of the Cryogenian Snowball Earth" (preprint) ⚒️🧪❄️
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
Tonian glaciation in South China
Paleoclimatic conditions during the Tonian Period (~1000-720 Ma), preceding the Cryogenian Snowball Earth glaciations, remain ambiguous. While the apparent paucity of glacially influenced sedimentary ...
www.researchsquare.com
October 15, 2025 at 12:01 AM
👀👀"...at least two cold climate intervals during the late Tonian Period, thereby providing novel insights into the evolution of global climate conditions in advance of the Cryogenian Snowball Earth" (preprint) ⚒️🧪❄️
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...
It's been a while since I did a prehistoric Earth render hasn't it? It came to my attention earlier that my Cryogenian Earth uses outdated models of Earth's landmasses, so I plan to revamp it, as well as some other prehistoric Earths I've yet to show here.
In the meantime, here's Cambrian Earth:
In the meantime, here's Cambrian Earth:
August 3, 2025 at 11:20 PM
It's been a while since I did a prehistoric Earth render hasn't it? It came to my attention earlier that my Cryogenian Earth uses outdated models of Earth's landmasses, so I plan to revamp it, as well as some other prehistoric Earths I've yet to show here.
In the meantime, here's Cambrian Earth:
In the meantime, here's Cambrian Earth:
New research on ancient rocks from Colorado's Pikes Peak provides evidence supporting the Snowball Earth hypothesis, linking sand injectites to the Cryogenian period's global ice age & offering insights into Earth's ancient climate and geological history.
buff.ly/3UPkhdW
buff.ly/3UPkhdW
Evidence from Snowball Earth found in ancient rocks on Colorado’s Pikes Peak – it’s a missing link
Geologists found evidence in the way enigmatic sandstones called Tava formed in the Rocky Mountains hundreds of millions of years ago.
buff.ly
November 23, 2024 at 3:02 PM
New research on ancient rocks from Colorado's Pikes Peak provides evidence supporting the Snowball Earth hypothesis, linking sand injectites to the Cryogenian period's global ice age & offering insights into Earth's ancient climate and geological history.
buff.ly/3UPkhdW
buff.ly/3UPkhdW
During the Cryogenian Period, the Earth experienced widespread glaciation, possibly nearly the entire planet according to some models.
February 12, 2024 at 2:47 PM
During the Cryogenian Period, the Earth experienced widespread glaciation, possibly nearly the entire planet according to some models.
Yeah I’m still not liking the number. I think we’ve had some rapid ice changes coming out of the cryogenian or at the end of the Cretaceous.
This year’s anomaly is very very very unusual and alarming, but 13 billion is a very big number.
This year’s anomaly is very very very unusual and alarming, but 13 billion is a very big number.
July 25, 2023 at 2:20 PM
Yeah I’m still not liking the number. I think we’ve had some rapid ice changes coming out of the cryogenian or at the end of the Cretaceous.
This year’s anomaly is very very very unusual and alarming, but 13 billion is a very big number.
This year’s anomaly is very very very unusual and alarming, but 13 billion is a very big number.
Cryogenian!
"The apparent increase in biotic complexity followed a global transition to more stable and less reducing conditions in shallow to mid-depth marine environments and occurred ... during progressive cooling after post-Snowball super-greenhouse conditions."
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
"The apparent increase in biotic complexity followed a global transition to more stable and less reducing conditions in shallow to mid-depth marine environments and occurred ... during progressive cooling after post-Snowball super-greenhouse conditions."
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
August 26, 2023 at 6:55 PM
Cryogenian!
"The apparent increase in biotic complexity followed a global transition to more stable and less reducing conditions in shallow to mid-depth marine environments and occurred ... during progressive cooling after post-Snowball super-greenhouse conditions."
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
"The apparent increase in biotic complexity followed a global transition to more stable and less reducing conditions in shallow to mid-depth marine environments and occurred ... during progressive cooling after post-Snowball super-greenhouse conditions."
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Rugoconites reguibatensis Hachour et al., 2023 is a purportedly probable scyphozoan medusa from the Cryogenian (or the Tonian) (!?) It would be the oldest known metazoan if verified...
November 14, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Rugoconites reguibatensis Hachour et al., 2023 is a purportedly probable scyphozoan medusa from the Cryogenian (or the Tonian) (!?) It would be the oldest known metazoan if verified...
The latter is one assumption about what the Great Unconformity represents (and it's very much an assumption), but there are still Paleoproterozoic sedimentary basins much older than the Cryogenian (that's how we know about the first global glaciation) and even Archean ones.
March 6, 2025 at 3:58 AM
The latter is one assumption about what the Great Unconformity represents (and it's very much an assumption), but there are still Paleoproterozoic sedimentary basins much older than the Cryogenian (that's how we know about the first global glaciation) and even Archean ones.
It turns out that that the Cryogenian may have been a "Goldilocks period" for Snowball Earth events: the surface carbon reservoir had depleted enough that it was sensitive to perturbations by LIP-scale events, and other stabilizing feedbacks were less well-developed.
July 25, 2025 at 6:56 PM
It turns out that that the Cryogenian may have been a "Goldilocks period" for Snowball Earth events: the surface carbon reservoir had depleted enough that it was sensitive to perturbations by LIP-scale events, and other stabilizing feedbacks were less well-developed.
... evolved before the Cryogenian snowballs and were not wiped out. That requires refugia near the surface, with access to sunlight.
July 16, 2025 at 9:36 AM
... evolved before the Cryogenian snowballs and were not wiped out. That requires refugia near the surface, with access to sunlight.
The Cryogenian is thought to have occurred when all the continents clustered at the equator, reflecting sunlight, increasing rain, and boosting silicate weathering that depleted CO2.
This was the most severe ice age, causing the whole Earth to freeze over.
This was the most severe ice age, causing the whole Earth to freeze over.
December 30, 2023 at 8:31 PM
The Cryogenian is thought to have occurred when all the continents clustered at the equator, reflecting sunlight, increasing rain, and boosting silicate weathering that depleted CO2.
This was the most severe ice age, causing the whole Earth to freeze over.
This was the most severe ice age, causing the whole Earth to freeze over.
I know some sponge people claim that there are sponges back into the Tonian, and that would probably mean ctenophores back then too, so cnidarians wouldn't be a HUGE stretch in the Cryogenian...but I don't think that's what these are.
The vibes seem to be generically algal.
The vibes seem to be generically algal.
June 7, 2025 at 12:43 AM
I know some sponge people claim that there are sponges back into the Tonian, and that would probably mean ctenophores back then too, so cnidarians wouldn't be a HUGE stretch in the Cryogenian...but I don't think that's what these are.
The vibes seem to be generically algal.
The vibes seem to be generically algal.
The Hidden Resilience of Life: Meltwater Ponds as Sanctuaries During Earth’s Coldest Periods
Imagine Earth during the Cryogenian period—an era when glaciers, like ...
https://breaking.dog/291ff5612a724ab7a448af5d7bbf04b8?lang=en
Imagine Earth during the Cryogenian period—an era when glaciers, like ...
https://breaking.dog/291ff5612a724ab7a448af5d7bbf04b8?lang=en
June 19, 2025 at 9:24 AM
The Hidden Resilience of Life: Meltwater Ponds as Sanctuaries During Earth’s Coldest Periods
Imagine Earth during the Cryogenian period—an era when glaciers, like ...
https://breaking.dog/291ff5612a724ab7a448af5d7bbf04b8?lang=en
Imagine Earth during the Cryogenian period—an era when glaciers, like ...
https://breaking.dog/291ff5612a724ab7a448af5d7bbf04b8?lang=en
neat way to see how the Appalachians and Scottish Highlands were once the same giant mountain range pictured here. The two red pins represent NYC and Edinburgh
May 21, 2024 at 2:15 PM
neat way to see how the Appalachians and Scottish Highlands were once the same giant mountain range pictured here. The two red pins represent NYC and Edinburgh
This Map Lets You Plug in Your Address to See How It’s Changed Over the Past 750 Million Years
The interactive tool enables users to home in on a specific location and visualize how it has evolved between the Cryogenian period and the present www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/m...
The interactive tool enables users to home in on a specific location and visualize how it has evolved between the Cryogenian period and the present www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/m...
This Map Lets You Plug in Your Address to See How It's Changed Over the Past 750 Million Years
The interactive tool enables users to home in on a specific location and visualize how it has evolved between the Cryogenian period and the present
www.smithsonianmag.com
March 11, 2025 at 3:40 PM
This Map Lets You Plug in Your Address to See How It’s Changed Over the Past 750 Million Years
The interactive tool enables users to home in on a specific location and visualize how it has evolved between the Cryogenian period and the present www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/m...
The interactive tool enables users to home in on a specific location and visualize how it has evolved between the Cryogenian period and the present www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/m...
My #FossilFriday contribution: pre-Cryogenian #stromatolites from #BrachinaGorge in #IkaraFlindersRangesNationalPark #Ikara #FlindersRanges
November 19, 2024 at 12:18 PM
My #FossilFriday contribution: pre-Cryogenian #stromatolites from #BrachinaGorge in #IkaraFlindersRangesNationalPark #Ikara #FlindersRanges
Yeah, little monotonous, really.
December 23, 2024 at 8:59 PM
Yeah, little monotonous, really.
Did the Cryogenian ice sheets ‘frack’ the underlying bedrock?
690 - 660 million years ago, the pressure of the ice sheets over what would be someday be Pikes Peak of Colorado injected sand into the fractured bedrock below the ice of the landmass, then near the equator, suggesting the ice must have covered the entire planet, or #SnowballEarth ⚒️🧪🪨
November 13, 2024 at 12:28 AM
Did the Cryogenian ice sheets ‘frack’ the underlying bedrock?
Imagine Earth, way back about 700 million years ago, looking like a giant snowball. That's what the Snowball Earth hypothesis is all about. It says that during a time called the Cryogenian period, the whole planet might have been covered in ice, from pole to pole! Let's explore🧵👇 #Geology
November 15, 2024 at 7:36 AM
Imagine Earth, way back about 700 million years ago, looking like a giant snowball. That's what the Snowball Earth hypothesis is all about. It says that during a time called the Cryogenian period, the whole planet might have been covered in ice, from pole to pole! Let's explore🧵👇 #Geology
I have the Cryogenian and Hadean already and I'm ready to add a Paleoproterozoic "witness the miracle of eukaryogenesis!" poster!
October 23, 2024 at 9:28 PM
I have the Cryogenian and Hadean already and I'm ready to add a Paleoproterozoic "witness the miracle of eukaryogenesis!" poster!
The earth freezing over a couple of times hundreds of millions of years ago during the Cryogenian period turning the earth into a giant snowball 😂
Can’t forget that meteor that nuked the Dinosaurs and planet that was 9 miles wide
That one time where the north and south poles switching every couple hundred thousand years because of geomagnetic reversal(we’re WAYYY overdue for one)
August 18, 2025 at 5:31 AM
The earth freezing over a couple of times hundreds of millions of years ago during the Cryogenian period turning the earth into a giant snowball 😂
Tiny ancient life found! Scientists uncovered beautifully preserved microfossils in China from the Cryogenian period, between two massive ice ages. These microfossils mostly appear to be cyanobacteria, a key planktonic community, offering a unique peek into life forms that thrived in icy, offshor...
A Flourishing Planktonic Microbial Community in an Interglacial Offshore Environment: Silicified Microfossils From the Cryogenian Datangpo Formation, South China.
Published in Geobiology
doi.org
September 27, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Tiny ancient life found! Scientists uncovered beautifully preserved microfossils in China from the Cryogenian period, between two massive ice ages. These microfossils mostly appear to be cyanobacteria, a key planktonic community, offering a unique peek into life forms that thrived in icy, offshor...
Someone go find a crater in northern Sweden, instructions in this open access paper. We're talking a >600My one on glacially eroded areas, so it may be a tad difficult 😉
Alwmark et al: "A Cryogenian impact structure lurking in the shadows of northern Sweden"
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Alwmark et al: "A Cryogenian impact structure lurking in the shadows of northern Sweden"
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
November 23, 2024 at 8:19 AM
Someone go find a crater in northern Sweden, instructions in this open access paper. We're talking a >600My one on glacially eroded areas, so it may be a tad difficult 😉
Alwmark et al: "A Cryogenian impact structure lurking in the shadows of northern Sweden"
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Alwmark et al: "A Cryogenian impact structure lurking in the shadows of northern Sweden"
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...