The official title of IGCP 512, A New Global Synthesis on Neoproterozoic ice ages, their Correlation, Ages, Duration, Areal Extent, Geological Setting, Related Ore Genesis, Causes and Effect, or Neoproterozoic Ice Ages, adequately sums up the goal of this project. It is motivated by the recognition over the last decade that the earth witnessed possibly its most extreme climatic swings between 750 and 550 million years ago. One of the most exciting recent developments in geology was the reemergence of the Snowball Earth Hypothesis (Hoffman et al., 1998), which posits that the surface of the earth was entirely frozen on at least one occasion during the latter half of the Neoproterozoic Era (1000 - 542 million years ago). The compelling, if controversial, imagine of a completely ice-bound earth has captured imaginations worldwide, drawing popular and scientific attention to the Neoproterozoic Era. It has inspired scientific documentaries, books, national research programmes, and a surge in papers on Neoproterozoic climate, stratigraphy, glacial sedimentology, biology, etc.

Much progress has been made on our knowledge of the Neoproterozoic glaciations in the past decade, such as incontrovertible evidence that there were at least three glacial episodes and that one of these ended globally at 635 Ma (Hoffmann et al., 2004; Condon et al., 2005) and the formal definition of the Ediacaran Period (Knoll et al., 2005). But despite the large international and interdisciplinary effort being exerted to understand these glaciations, the scientific community is far from reaching consensus regarding the number and relative severity of any of these ice ages. The Neoproterozoic climate change debate has polarized researchers into seemingly entrenched camps for and against global glaciation. This project seeks to step back from these opposing views and create a stimulating academic climate in which competing ideas can be tested on the path towards general agreement. By integrating proven expertise among nine young, emerging researchers from eight different subdisciplines within geoscience, we aim to work towards an authoritative, consensus global synthesis of Neoproterozoic climate change and Earth System evolution. Specifically, we would like to address the following questions:

1. How many distinct glacial episodes occurred during the Neoproterozoic era?
   
2. When did each glacial episode occur?
   
3. How long did each glacial episode last?
   
4. Can we use Neoproterozoic glacial sediments and their related marker beds, such as cap carbonates, for correlating rock units worldwide?
   
5. What was the areal extent of each glacial episode?
   
6. What was the geologic and palaeogeographic setting of each glacial episode?
   
7. What were the likely effects of Neoproterozoic glaciation on biotic evolution?
   
8. When and how did cap carbonates form?
   
9. When and how did related ore deposits (sedimentary iron formations, manganese formations, barite, phosphorites and U-, V-, Pt-, Au-ferrous black shales) form?
   
10. To what extent do current hypotheses of Neoproterozoic glaciation and its causes and effects fit the geological evidence for each glacial episode?

These questions will be addressed primarily by collaborative fieldwork among over 130 participants from 19 countries at key Neoproterozoic successions in at least eight different countries (Senegal, Burkina-Faso, Brazil, UK, China, Norway, Russia, Australia) over five years and related laboratory work in over ten different countries. The project comprises 8 multidisciplinary nodes, each of which will centred around one academic researcher who will be responsible for coordinating work in his/her subdiscipline for the duration of the project:

Researcher	Discipline	Represented Country
Emmanuelle Arnaud	glacial sedimentology	Canada
Marly Babinski	geochronology	Brazil
Yves Goddéris	geochemical modeling	France
Galen Halverson	economic geology	Australia
Martin Kennedy	carbonate sedimentology	USA
Conall Mac Niocall	paleomagnetism	UK
Vibhuti Rai	integrated biostratigraphy 1	India
Graham Shields	isotope stratigraphy	Germany
Zhu Moyan	integrated biostratigraphy 2	China

Key to our vision is a strong emphasis on the sharing of knowledge and enhancing scientific cooperation between developed and developing nations with very major interest in our project from Brazil, Russia and China, as well as USA, Australia and Canada. In addition, we have firm plans and high hopes to incorporate collaborating geologists from throughout NW Africa increasingly during the lifetime of the project. Neoproterozoic glaciogenic successions in NW Africa are crucial to our research aims, while related ore deposits form an integral part of the NW African economy.

IGCP 512 will hold annual meeting and field workshops. The results of our project will be published in international peer-reviewed journals, annual symposium proceedings, and an edited book on key Neoproterozoic glacigenic successions, which we hope will be the hallmark achievement of IGCP 512. We will also use this website as a means to disseminate information to the geological community and interested public. The training opportunities presented by this project will benefit postgraduate students from several countries as well as professionals from developing and developed regions of the world alike.

Download the project proposal