The study found that the Port Askaig Formation, composed of layers of rock up to 1.1 km thick, was likely laid down between 662 to 720 million years ago during the Sturtian glaciation -- the first of two global freezes thought to have triggered the development of complex, multicellular life.
A rock formation spanning Ireland and Scotland may be the world's most complete record of"snowball Earth," a crucial moment in planetary history when the globe was covered in ice, finds a new study led by UCL researchers., found that the Port Askaig Formation, composed of layers of rock up to 1.
First author Elias Rugen, a PhD candidate at UCL Earth Sciences, said:"Our study provides the first conclusive age constraints for these Scottish and Irish rocks, confirming their global significance. After this period, complex life emerged rapidly, in geologic terms, with most animals today similar in fundamental ways to the types of life forms that evolved more than 500 million years ago.
For the new study, the research team collected samples of sandstone from the 1.1km-thick Port Askaig Formation as well as from the older, 70-metre thick Garbh Eileach Formation underneath. GSSPs attract visitors from around the world and in some cases museums have been established at the sites.
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