ICDPInternational Continental Scientific Drilling Program

The Neoproterozoic Era experienced supercontinental tectonics, global-scale glaciations (i.e. Snowball Earth), a putative second global oxygenation event, and the diversification of eukaryotes followed by the rise of animals. Consequently, multi-disciplinary research of the Neoproterozoic is at the forefront of research between climatology, palaeobiology, geochemistry and geology. Although many first-order questions are being addressed and progress made, these advances are revealing a suite of specific follow on questions that remain to be answered. Many of these questions are sophisticated and present a challenge for current datasets, challenges that can be addressed through the acquisition of a set of new high-quality drill core archives. Such an effort will also serve as a focus for enhanced international and multi-disciplinary research.