Milankovitch cycles in banded iron formations constrain the Earth-Moon system 2.46 billion years ago.

ABSTRACT: The long-term history of the Earth-Moon system as reconstructed from the geological record remains unclear when based on fossil growth bands and tidal laminations. A possibly more robust method is provided by the sedimentary record of Milankovitch cycles (climatic precession, obliquity, and orbital eccentricity), whose relative ratios in periodicity change over time as a function of a decreasing Earth spin rate and increasing lunar distance. However, for the critical older portion of Earth's history where information on Earth-Moon dynamics is sparse, suitable sedimentary successions in which these cycles are recorded remain largely unknown, leaving this method unexplored. Here we present results of cyclostratigraphic analysis and high-precision U-Pb zircon dating of the lower Paleoproteroz

SUBMITTER: Lantink ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9546617 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature