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[00:00.40] Layers of rock can be thought of as pages of a history book – with each layer containing details of the Earth's condition in the distant past.

[00:08.90] But the critical period leading up to Snowball Earth was thought to be missing because the rock layers were eroded in the big freeze.

[00:17.40] Now, a new study by researchers at University College London, has revealed that the Garvellachs somehow escaped unscathed and may be the only place on Earth to have a detailed record of how the Earth entered one of the most catastrophic periods in its history, as well as what happened when the first animal life emerged when the snowball thawed.

[00:39.45] The discovery could mean that the islands may be awarded one of the biggest accolades in science: a golden spike, which is an actual spike hammered into a location that catalogues big transitions in the planet's geological history.