Editing Proterozoic (section)

==The Proterozoic record==
The geologic record of the Proterozoic Eon is more complete than that for the preceding [[Archean]] Eon. In contrast to the deep-water deposits of the Archean, the Proterozoic features many [[stratum|strata]] that were laid down in extensive shallow [[Inland sea (geology)|epicontinental seas]]; furthermore, many of those rocks are less [[Metamorphic rock|metamorphosed]] than Archean rocks, and many are unaltered.<ref name=Stanley>{{cite book | last=Stanley | first=Steven M. | year=1999 | title=Earth System History | location=New York, NY | publisher=W.H. Freeman and Company | isbn=978-0-7167-2882-5 }}</ref>{{rp|315}} Studies of these rocks have shown that the eon continued the massive [[continent]]al accretion that had begun late in the Archean Eon. The Proterozoic Eon also featured the first definitive [[supercontinent cycle]]s and {{clarify span|text=wholly modern|explain=Compared to partially modern? What is (geologically) modern?|date=April 2023}} mountain building activity ([[orogeny]]).<ref name=Stanley/>{{rp|315–318, 329–332}}

There is evidence that the first known glaciations occurred during the Proterozoic. The first began shortly after the beginning of the Proterozoic Eon, and evidence of at least four during the Neoproterozoic Era at the end of the Proterozoic Eon, possibly climaxing with the hypothesized [[Snowball Earth]] of the [[Sturtian]] and [[Marinoan]] glaciations.<ref name=Stanley/>{{rp|320–321, 325}}