How Snowball Earth melted

Science Sessions are brief conversations with cutting-edge researchers, National Academy members, and policymakers as they discuss topics relevant to today's scientific community. Learn the behind-the-scenes story of work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), plus a broad range of scientific news about discoveries that affect the world around us.

In this episode, Shuhai Xiao explores how the Earth emerged from a planetwide glaciation called Snowball Earth.

In this episode, we cover: •[00:00] Introduction •[00:48] Geobiologist Shuhai Xiao introduces us to Snowball Earth. •[01:58] Xiao introduces the "plumeworld" hypothesis that describes the end of Snowball Earth. •[03:41] He explains how lithium isotopes in rocks can confirm the plumeworld hypothesis. •[05:54] Xiao explains why dolostone deposits in China were suitable for studying this hypothesis. •[06:53] He talks about the results of the study. •[07:39] He talks about the implications of the study results. •[08:26] Caveats and limitations of the study. •[10:06] Conclusion.

About Our Guests:

Shuhai Xiao Professor Virginia Tech

View related content here: https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2407419121

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