Adventure Ausrama Blog

A long, long time ago there was a supercontinent on the planet Earth called Rodinia. The continent broke up and gigantic rivers flowed across its landscape. Consequently, the chemistry of the sea was changed. High CO2 levels in the atmosphere fell. Heat was no longer trapped by the greenhouse effect. A very long iceage began with temperatures falling to -50°C. The iceage went on for a long time because the now white planet reflected the sun's energy. Time stood still for rocks. Weathering did not occur. Volcanic activity began but it did not increase C02 by very much. Sea ice stopped sea water from taking up CO2 as it continued to reflect heat away. Some explosive activity must have happened: the change from iceage to greenhouse was sudden. glassy hyaloclastite fell into the ocean releasing phosphorus. This released oxygen into the ocean and the atmosphere. Cataclysms destroy life so life can begin anew. ◆ Chemistry by Ty Buchanan   ◆ Adventure Australi

Earliest life on this planet looked like tennis and soccer balls. Images show round ball-like creatures. One type has the curved line around it like a tennis ball. Another has five sides shapes around its surface like a soccer ball. At first the lifeforms were believed to be giant bacteria. Currently the verdict is they are metazoan embryos. They could ultimately be found to be protists such as fungi, algae and diatoms. Though they are the earliest kind of life found, the find at this particular site in China is just by chance. Different life could have developed elsewhere. Two animals have also been found at the site that lived during the "Snowball Earth" period. One of the animals could be the first instance of a bilateral, life with a symmetrical body. China and Australia were once joined together on the supercontinent of Gondwana. Fossils in the Flinders Range of Australia also claim the "ticket" for the oldest known form of life. http://www.adventure--