Baykonurian glaciation

{{Short description|Ice age around the beginning of the Cambrian Period}}

The Baykonurian glaciation is a glacial episode dating to around the Proterozoic–Phanerozoic boundary, at the end of the Ediacaran Period. The date of {{Ma|547}} has been proposed in the literature. The glaciation is posited as a contributor to the Cambrian explosion. Its deposits are known in regions of Asia and Africa, and it apparently affected both palaeohemispheres. Glacial deposits possibly related to this glaciation have been found to be dated between 549 and 530 Ma.{{cite journal |last1=Chumakov |first1=Nikolay |title=The Baykonurian glaciohorizon of the Late Vendian |journal=Stratigraphy and Geological Correlation |date=1 August 2009 |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=378–379 |doi=10.1134/S0869593809040029 |bibcode=2009SGC....17..373C |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225411188 |accessdate=17 March 2020}} It is named for the Baykonur Formation in Central Asia.{{cite journal|url=http://sajg.geoscienceworld.org/content/115/1/91|title=Nature and extent of a late Ediacaran (ca. 547 Ma) glacigenic erosion surface in southern Africa|author1=Germs, G.J.B.|author2=Gaucher, C.|journal=South African Journal of Geology|year=2012|volume=115|issue=1 |pages=91–102|doi=10.2113/gssajg.115.91|bibcode=2012SAJG..115...91G }}{{cite journal|last1=Chumakov|first1=N. M.|title=Chapter 26 Glacial deposits of the Baykonur Formation, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan|journal=Geological Society, London, Memoirs|date=30 November 2011|volume=36|issue=1|pages=303–307|doi=10.1144/M36.26}}{{cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/SC/pdf/sc_IGCP_RussianFederation_Natcom-Annualreport2010.pdf|title=Project 512 Neoproterozoic ice ages|publisher=Russian National Committee for IGCP|work=Russian National Committee for IGCP—Annual Report on IGCP-related Activities 2010|date=2010|accessdate=7 November 2016|page=11}}