Australian geologists have used plate tectonic modelling to determine the cause of an extreme ice-age climate over 700 million years ago. The study, published in Geology, reveals that historically low volcanic carbon dioxide emissions and weathering of volcanic rocks in Canada caused the Earth to be completely frozen over. The glaciation, known as the Sturtian glaciation, lasted for an astonishing 57 million years. This research helps us understand how Earth’s built-in thermostat functions and highlights the sensitivity of global climate to atmospheric carbon concentration.
https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2024/02/08/geoscientists-discover-what-turned-snowball-earth-sturtian-ice-age-earthbyte.html