Cryogenian

Cryogenium is a period in geological history and was in the Neoproterozoic. It began about 850 million years ago and ended about 635 million years. With a duration of about 215 million years, the Cryogenium was significantly longer than the Mesozoic and probably played an important, but hitherto poorly understood role in the evolution of organisms.

The Cryogenium follows the Tonium and is detached from the Ediacaran, in which it came multicellular creatures to a large deployment.

Naming

The name is from the gr Cryogenium kryos = 'cold' and genesis = birth, emergence ' derived. The name alludes to the then almost global glaciation of the earth.

Events during the Cryogenium

In this period the stubbornness tables and Marinoische ice age fall with nearly global glaciation (see " Snowball Earth "). However, the extent of glaciation has been tempered by recent research and some critical voices are growing. At the equator, probably existed but ice-free areas. Many newer models are now more of a " Slushball Earth" (translated as slush ball ) out.