Le Heron, 2018, An exhumed Paleozoic glacial landscape in Chad: Geology, v. 46, p. 91-94.
What’s it about?
Rocks of early Carboniferous age (mid-Mississippian, about 340 million years ago) in Chad show evidence of the passage of glaciers. Today, this part of the world is largely desert. This paper discusses the evidence for ancient glaciers and shows that they are not modern features of the wind.
Why does it matter?
This importance is two-fold, at least as I see it. 1) This research shows that evidence for ancient glaciers can be preserved. 2) This shows also that glaciers once existed in places where today, no snow falls.
Why did I read this?
It’s January 1 and I’ve decided to try #365papers again for 2018. I managed to read 297 papers last year…
Anyway, I did a quick search in my “Science Headlines” Twitter feed and this popped up. I’m interested in it because here in western New York, there are examples of the same glacial features described in this paper, but only a few 10s of thousands of years old. It’s interesting to consider how glacial landforms might look 340-ish million years later.
Penny Higgins - Storyteller • Artist • Scientist 