Kaigas

Events of the Cryogenian Period

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-760 —

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-740 —

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-720 —

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-700 —

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-680 —

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-660 —

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-640 —

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-620 —

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Cryogenian

Ediacaran

Tonian

 

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Marinoan

Sturtian

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First sponge-like animal?

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Kaigas glaciation?

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First demosponges.

 Major Glacial period

Kaigas is the hypothesized first major glaciation or snowball earth in the Neoproterozoic Era, preceding the Cryogenian period. During the Kaigas, almost the entire Earth was covered with ice sheets up to more than a kilometer thick.

Geological context

The ice age was first identified in stratigraphic units in Namibia and sedimentary evidence for the glaciation is not seen in the South China Block where other Neoproterozoic snowball earth glaciations are identified from the sedimentary record. Instead, the presence of the Kaigas on the South China Block is identified through stable isotope evidence.