Cryogenian Period

E779329

Neoproterozoic period geologic period

The Cryogenian Period was a geologic interval roughly 720–635 million years ago marked by some of the most extreme global glaciations in Earth’s history, when ice may have covered much of the planet.

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Observed surface forms (3)

Surface form	Occurrences
Cryogenian	1
Cryogenian period	1
late Cryogenian Period	1

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Neoproterozoic period ⓘ geologic period ⓘ
abbreviation	Cryogenian NERFINISHED ⓘ
associatedWith	Snowball Earth hypothesis NERFINISHED ⓘ assembly of the Gondwana supercontinent ⓘ breakup of the Rodinia supercontinent ⓘ cap carbonate deposits ⓘ changes in ocean chemistry ⓘ early diversification of multicellular life ⓘ evolutionary innovations in early eukaryotes ⓘ large negative carbon isotope excursions ⓘ oxygenation events in the oceans ⓘ slushball Earth hypothesis ⓘ
biosphereImpact	bottlenecks and radiations in early life ⓘ stress on marine ecosystems due to ice cover ⓘ
characterizedBy	extreme global glaciations ⓘ low-latitude glaciation ⓘ marine ice cover ⓘ possible Snowball Earth events ⓘ widespread continental ice sheets ⓘ
climateState	repeated severe glacial–interglacial cycles ⓘ
definedBy	International Commission on Stratigraphy NERFINISHED ⓘ
duration	about 85 million years ⓘ
endTime	approximately 635 million years ago ⓘ
followedByClimate	Ediacaran biotic diversification ⓘ
follows	Tonian Period NERFINISHED ⓘ
hasMajorGlaciation	Marinoan glaciation NERFINISHED ⓘ Sturtian glaciation ⓘ
hasStratotype	GSSP not yet formally ratified (as of 2024) ⓘ
lithology	banded iron formations associated with glaciations ⓘ dropstones in marine sediments ⓘ glacial diamictites ⓘ
Marinoan glaciationEnd	approximately 635 million years ago ⓘ
namedAfter	cryogenic (cold-producing) processes ⓘ
paleogeography	continents located mostly in low latitudes ⓘ
partOf	Neoproterozoic Era NERFINISHED ⓘ Precambrian Supereon NERFINISHED ⓘ Proterozoic Eon NERFINISHED ⓘ
positionInEon	middle period of the Neoproterozoic Era ⓘ
precededByClimate	relatively warm Tonian climate ⓘ
precedes	Ediacaran Period NERFINISHED ⓘ
recognizedSince	late 20th century as formal period ⓘ
seaLevel	strongly fluctuating global sea level ⓘ
startTime	approximately 720 million years ago ⓘ
Sturtian glaciationEnd	approximately 660 million years ago ⓘ
Sturtian glaciationStart	approximately 717 million years ago ⓘ
timeScale	part of the International Chronostratigraphic Chart ⓘ

Referenced by (7)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Snowball Earth glaciations → temporalLocation → Cryogenian Period ⓘ

Ediacaran Period → follows → Cryogenian Period ⓘ

Neoproterozoic supercontinent cycle → hasTemporalContext → Cryogenian Period ⓘ

Sturtian glaciation → partOf → Cryogenian Period ⓘ

this entity surface form: Cryogenian period

Sturtian glaciation → temporalLocation → Cryogenian Period ⓘ

this entity surface form: Cryogenian

Pannotia → timeSpanOverlaps → Cryogenian Period ⓘ

Marinoan glaciation → timeSpan → Cryogenian Period ⓘ

this entity surface form: late Cryogenian Period