Snowball Earth
A snowball Earth is a geological event where the entire surface of the Earth is covered in snow and ice. The most recent snowball Earth took place during the Cryogenian period and consisted of two global glaciation events known as the Sturtian and Marinoan glaciations. Xiao suggests that between the period of time known as the "Boring Billion" and the Snowball Earth, simple life could have had time to innovate and evolve which could later lead to the evolution of multicellularity. The snowball Earth hypothesis in regards to multicellularity proposes that the Cyrogenian period in Earth history could have been the catalyst for the evolution of complex multicellular life. Brocks suggests that the time between the Sturtian Glacian and the more recent Marinoan Glacian allowed for planktonic algae to dominate the seas making way for rapid diversity of life for both plant and animal lineages. Shortly after the Marinoan, complex life quickly emerged and diversified in what is known as the Cambrian Explosion.