When the Earth Had Supermountains

#Supermountains #Geology #Geography Supermountains: how a mountain range that no longer exists may have helped make animals, eyes, shells and you 🏔️ According to a small but growing group of geologists, Earth built two vanished mountain ranges, each about as tall as the Himalayas and several times longer, and each time life took a giant leap. Not one peak of either survives. This is the story of how tiny zircon crystals let scientists find them, and why the idea is still debated. Discover how zircon crystals work as natural clocks to date lost mountains See why the Transgondwanan Supermountain may have fertilized the oceans before the Cambrian explosion Learn about the Nuna Supermountain and the "Boring Billion" when no supermountain stood Find out why your skeleton may trace back to a mountain range nobody will ever see Timestamps 00:00 – The Mountain Range That Vanished 00:52 – Everest, the Himalayas and the Mystery Scar 05:19 – Zircons: Earth's Crystal Clocks 09:25 – The Transgondwanan Supermountain 14:24 – Cloudina, the Cambrian Explosion and Fertilized Seas 20:01 – Elegant Idea, But Is It Proof? 22:27 – The 2022 Test: Nuna and the Boring Billion 28:11 – What It Means (and What Isn't Proven) 💭 Do you think mountains really helped build complex life? Tell us in the comments 👇 REFERENCES 📚 Squire, Campbell, Allen & Wilson, "Did the Transgondwanan Supermountain trigger the explosive radiation of animals on Earth?" Earth and Planetary Science Letters (2006) Zhu, Campbell, Allen & Brocks, "The temporal distribution of Earth's supermountains and their potential link to the rise of atmospheric oxygen and biological evolution," Earth and Planetary Science Letters (2022) Australian National University news release, "Supermountains controlled the evolution of life on Earth" (2022) Disclaimer This video is for education and entertainment. The link between supermountains and the rise of complex life is a scientific hypothesis, not settled fact, and many geologists dispute how much credit they deserve. Dates and figures are approximate. Where sources differ, we say so in the video. #CambrianExplosion #EarthHistory #EvolutionOfLife #BoringBillion 👉 If this gave you a new way to look at a mountain, LIKE, SUBSCRIBE and share it with someone who loves Earth science.