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Hills that lose the crust of the earth. PHOTO / ADDRESS INFORMATION
A mystery that has puzzled experts for more than a century refers to a large slab of Earth’s waste that is missing from the geological record.
New evidence has revealed that severe glacial erosion that occurred during a period known as “Snowball Earth” when almost the entire planet was covered in ice, has emerged as a result of the extinction.
The result is gaps in the sedimentary record that occur when the age of rocks changes significantly due to the erosion of previous rocks.
This phenomenon was observed in 1869 at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Experts noted that the age of the rocks changed significantly and found that this was happening in several places around the world, giving it the name The Great Unconformity.
The authors estimated that 3-5 kilometers (2-3 miles) of rock were eroded worldwide as a result of glacial erosion until the rock was “disappeared” from the record.
The main author of the study, Dr. Brenhin Keller from the Berkeley Geochronology Center, explains that the rate of rock loss is very large, and he estimates, together with his colleagues, that a billion cubic kilometers (200 million cubic miles) ) of pre-Cambrian material to be lost. based on what is thought to be.
Their theory suggests that more erosion occurred before the beginning of the Phanerozoic era than experts previously thought, and they present evidence showing that crystals from that time have hafnium and oxygen isotopes.
This isotype is consistent with erosion of older rocks and deposition at low temperatures. Their theory also suggests that this is why there are many asteroid craters that are less than 700 million years old and only two that are older than that.
Regarding the rock’s current condition, it is thought that the glaciers that eroded the sedimentary rock washed it into the sea.
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2024-11-18 16:13:00
#Scientists #discover #location #lost #chunk #Earths #crust
How has the discovery of the Great Unconformity altered our perceptions of geological timelines and Earth’s evolutionary processes?
1. Can you please explain the phenomenon of “missing rock” in the geological record and how did scientists discover it?
2. What are the implications of the Great Unconformity on our understanding of Earth’s history and evolution?
3. How does the erosion caused by glaciers during Snowball Earth affect the current geological landscape?
4. Based on your research, what are some of the key factors that contributed to the loss of pre-Cambrian material from the Earth’s crust?
5. Can you describe the scale and impact of the erosion that occurred during the Snowball Earth period?
6. What techniques and technologies were used to uncover this information, and how are they changing our understanding of Earth’s history?
7. How does this discovery challenge our previous assumptions about the early history of the Earth and the extraterrestrial impacts that may have occurred?
8. In your opinion, what are some potential implications of this research for future geological studies and our understanding of the planet’s geology?
