In reply to Taylor J. Smith's message of Tue, 09 Sep 2008 20:29:10 +0000: Hi, [snip] > >On Sep 8, 2008, at 9:46 AM, Stephen A. Lawrence wrote: > >Check out the "snowball Earth" era(s) which occurred in >the past. Glaciation was extreme, reaching all the way >-- or nearly all the way -- to the Equator. The Earth's >albedo went sky-high, as a result of which the "effective >insolation" rate plummeted -- runaway cooling. Why, >you may ask, do we no longer have a snowball Earth? >What finally stopped the "runaway"? [snip] Possible alternatives to a past "snowball Earth":-
1) The crust has slipped several times, resulting in different land masses being located near the poles and accumulating ice, and leaving evidence that has been interpreted at "snowball Earth". 2) Continental drift with the same result(?) IOW maybe there never was a "snowball" Earth. Regards, Robin van Spaandonk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
