A review of neoproterozoic climate modeling studies

Over the past decade, a number of climate modeling studies have examined the possibility of simulating low-latitude glaciation using Neoproterozoic boundary conditions. Many of the studies undertaken have used the thermodynamic slab ocean, which includes the top 100 meters of the ocean. These models have successfully simulated Hard Snowball Earth conditions, while recent simulations using fully coupled atmosphere-ocean models have not been able simulated Hard Snowball Earth conditions. Moreover, ice-sheet models have been run offline using GCM fields to simulated ice-sheets on land under “Hard” and “Soft” Snowball Earth Conditions. However, until of the climate models include additional components of the climate system including geochemical, dynamic ocean, sea ice and ice-sheet components uncertainty will exist in our understanding of Neoproterozoic low-latitude glaciation.