Large igneous provinces and associated silicic magmatism can have a significant global climatic effect, so we explored the relationship between the large igneous province record and the ca. 580 Ma Gaskiers glaciation. The late Ediacaran glaciation exists on at least 14 different paleocontinental blocks, and assuming synchroneity, this Gaskiers glaciation was likely of short duration, with estimates ranging from 1.6 m.y. to 340 k.y. The Central Iapetus magmatic province event found in Laurentia, Baltica, and West Africa consists of multiple pulses in the range 620–520 Ma, with the ca. 580 Ma pulse particularly well developed in North Africa. Based on the age matches of 580–570 Ma Central Iapetus magmatic province pulses and the Gaskiers glaciation, and taking into consideration that there is no robust evidence for a major meteorite impact at the time of the Gaskiers onset, we propose that: (1) the initial silicic ca. 580 Ma pulse of the Ouarzazate event (Anti-Atlas of Morocco) helped to trigger the Gaskiers glaciation, and (2) global warming associated with the subsequent ca. 579–570 Ma continental flood basalts, marking the second stage of the Ouarzazate event, helped to end the ice age.

The Oued Togba and Sebkha Gezmayet units of the Adrar Souttouf Massif in the southern Moroccan Sahara are thought to represent tectonic fragments that may have an affinity to the Avalonian and Meguma terranes of eastern North America. Here we study siliciclastic rocks of the Sebkha Gezmayet unit with respect to their detrital zircon spectra. Beside the commonly used U–Th–Pb ages, several aspects of zircon morphology (length, width, roundness, surficial indicators of sedimentary transport, morphotype) are described. The detrital zircon age spectrum of the Sebkha Gezmayet unit resembles that of the already dated underlying igneous rocks. Occurrences of Early Devonian zircon ages are at odds with the magmatic history of the West African Craton but are common in the Avalonian and Meguma terranes, which were affected by the Appalachian orogenies. The scarcity of Mesoproterozoic detrital zircon grains corroborates the previously suggested Meguma terrane affinity of this part of the Adrar Souttouf Massif. Combining zircon morphology and isotopic data, we propose first assumptions on the sedimentary environments of the Sebkha Gezmayet unit during different periods of the Palaeozoic.

Earth has gone through periods of cooling including global, near global, or regional glaciations, which are observed in the Archean, Paleoproterozoic, Neoproterozoic, Ordovician, Permo‐Carboniferous, and Cenozoic times. We review the mechanisms by which large igneous provinces (LIPs) and silicic LIPs (SLIPs) can cause global cooling. Then we investigate the correlation of LIPs with important glaciation events, focusing on those of Neoproterozoic and Phanerozoic age. The 720 Ma Franklin‐Irkutsk LIP, a large part of which was emplaced into an evaporite basin and all of which was emplaced in the tropics, is linked with the start of the Sturtian glaciation, one of the longest and most severe glaciations in Earth history. The ca. 579 Ma pulse of the Central Iapetus Magmatic Province (CIMP) is associated with the start and end of the Gaskiers glaciation. The Hirnantian glaciation (ca. 440 Ma) may be associated with poorly dated ca. 450 Ma intraplate magmatism in several regions, including eastern Siberia, South Korea, Argentina, Iran, and elsewhere. It is also coincident with a huge volume of silicic volcanic provinces generated by supereruptions. Permo‐Carboniferous glaciations (P1–P4, 300–260 Ma) can be correlated with widespread intraplate magmatism of the European northwest African magmatic province (and its initiation as the 300 Ma Skagerrak LIP), and also the 259 Ma Emeishan LIP of China. A recently recognized ca. 34 Ma initial pulse of the Afro‐Arabian LIP matches the Eocene‐Oligocene cooling (Oi‐1 glaciation). More precise dating of both the LIPs and cooling events is required to confirm the correlations and to assess the role of LIPs relative to other causes proposed for global and regional glaciations.