Cover Image: November 1999 Scientific American Magazine See Inside

The First Ice Age [Preview]

Some 2.3 billion years ago, oxygen supported a lot of land-based life on Earth, and then slicked the planet's surface with ice















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Wrangell glaciers
REMNANTS OF THE PAST

Geologists have long wondered when oxygen made its debut as a leading gas in Earth's life support system. They knew there were significant amounts present at least 1.2 billion years ago, because evidence suggested that the earliest land-based life--microbial mats and the like--appeared at that time. But two recent studies push the date back nearly twice as far.


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  1. 1. dogy967894 09:53 PM 8/29/08

    desckib every single thing about the 1# FIRST ICE AGE EVERY IN HISTORYS HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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