Aug 17, 2017 07:36 AM
http://newatlas.com/rise-of-algae-snowba...ion/50934/
EXCERPT: [...] For billions of years bacteria dominated the globe, but at some point a major transition occurred and complex multicellular life began to take hold. [...] An extreme ice age hit the planet around 717 million years ago. Known as the Sturtian glaciation, this event is more informally dubbed "Snowball Earth" and it's thought to be the most extreme, and long-lasting, ice age the planet ever experienced. [...] "The Earth was frozen over for 50 million years," explains lead research Jochen Brocks. "Huge glaciers ground entire mountain ranges to powder that released nutrients, and when the snow melted during an extreme global heating event rivers washed torrents of nutrients into the ocean." [..] "These large and nutritious organisms at the base of the food web provided the burst of energy required for the evolution of complex ecosystems, where increasingly large and complex animals, including humans, could thrive on Earth," says Dr Brocks....
MORE: http://newatlas.com/rise-of-algae-snowba...ion/50934/
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EXCERPT: [...] For billions of years bacteria dominated the globe, but at some point a major transition occurred and complex multicellular life began to take hold. [...] An extreme ice age hit the planet around 717 million years ago. Known as the Sturtian glaciation, this event is more informally dubbed "Snowball Earth" and it's thought to be the most extreme, and long-lasting, ice age the planet ever experienced. [...] "The Earth was frozen over for 50 million years," explains lead research Jochen Brocks. "Huge glaciers ground entire mountain ranges to powder that released nutrients, and when the snow melted during an extreme global heating event rivers washed torrents of nutrients into the ocean." [..] "These large and nutritious organisms at the base of the food web provided the burst of energy required for the evolution of complex ecosystems, where increasingly large and complex animals, including humans, could thrive on Earth," says Dr Brocks....
MORE: http://newatlas.com/rise-of-algae-snowba...ion/50934/
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