Earth's First Ice Age

          Approximately one year ago, Manchester University in England conducted an experiment in Western Australia where a research team discovered tiny bubbles of water in a vein of quartz. After having tested the water bubbles, results showed that argon gas levels, (which was dissolved in the water), were much lower than they are today. Using that information, the research team used the argon isotope levels to estimate the growth of the continents. 

         “Evidence from the geological record indicates that the first major glaciations on Earth occurred about 2.5 billion years ago, and yet the energy of the Sun was 20 per cent weaker prior to, and during, this period, so all water on Earth should already have been frozen” (The University of Manchester). The size of the continents plays an important role in the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, and the carbon dioxide dissolves in water and creates acid rain which would effectively reduce the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. This decline in carbon dioxide lowers the temperature of the atmosphere globally. 

         The lowering of global temperature and reduction of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere was the prepping of the first ice age. If you asked me, I would say there must have been a heck of a lot rain or some drastic force that has not yet been discovered to drain the Earth’s atmosphere to a low enough point for the oceans to freeze and for ice sheets to form over the ENTIRE surface of the Earth. It’s all pretty amazing to ponder.

Resources:

Elias, S. (1997). Ice Age Explanation. Retrieved September 13, 2014, from 

     http://culter.colorado.edu/~saelias/glacier.html 

The University of Manchester. (2013, June 5). Ancient trapped water could 

     explain timing of Earth's first ice age. Retrieved September 11, 2014, from 

     http://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/article/?id=10180