# Snowball Earth

- kind: problem
- status: partial
- year: 1992
- authors: Joseph Kirschvink

**Statement.** Did ice cover the whole planet during the Cryogenian, and how did life survive?

Glacial deposits at the equator 700 million years ago support near-global glaciation. Whether the oceans froze completely or kept open water near the equator is debated, and the answer bears on how complex life survived.

Posed 1992, Joseph Kirschvink.

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Snowball Earth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowball_Earth)

[Early Earth](/wiki/Space:early-earth.md) · [Earth](/wiki/Continent:earth.md)

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