Amplified cooling of Snowball Earth from a salt-albedo feedback

[Renaud de RICHTER]

Samuelsberg, A., Jakobsen, P. K., and Rypdal, M.: Amplified cooling of Snowball Earth from a salt-albedo feedback, Clim. Past, 22, 1499–1506, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-22-1499-2026, 2026.

Abstract

It is believed that the atmospheric circulation on Snowball Earth produced a net ablation zone exposing bare sea ice. Under sufficiently low temperatures, salt begins to precipitate out of sea ice, forming a lag deposit of crystals with high albedo as the ice sublimates. This could have resulted in a salt-albedo feedback that has not previously been included in modeling studies of Snowball Earth. We implement a salt-albedo feedback in a simple climate model and show that, once initiated, this mechanism could have intensified global cooling in the initial phase of Snowball Earth. Our results suggest that salt precipitation may have played a role in shaping the early climate of Snowball Earth.