The ice used to dominate the tropics

Geologists have long believed that, like today, tropical regions remain in a warm state during the ice age of Earth 300 million years ago.

However, scientists at the University of Oklahoma (USA) have found evidence that cold weather has dominated areas along the equator during that time.

Gerilyn Soreghan, a professor of geology at the University of Oklahoma, and colleagues found the remains of an ancient icy region in the Rocky Mountains in western Colorado, USA. 300 million years ago, this area is part of the tropics. Later the continents came together and formed Pangea supercontinent.

Rocky Mountains in Colorado State, USA.Photo: wunderground.com.

According to Gerilyn Soreghan, modern weather forecasting models cannot reproduce tropical climatic conditions at the ice age. Because the frozen areas are close to the sea, it is possible that their lowest place is about 500 meters above sea level.

"The evidence we have found shows that the masses of ice are quite common at the time, even in areas where the equator passed. This denies the assumption that tropical regions have never been. suffering from a cold climate ".