Pleistocene "Great Ice Age" Epoch (2.8Mya to 11.7Kya)
(Redirected from Pleistocene Epoch)
A Pleistocene "Great Ice Age" Epoch (2.8Mya to 11.7Kya) is an ice age epoch which lasted from about 2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago.
- Context:
- It can (typically) include extensive glaciations, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar Ice Sheets and alpine glaciers.
- It can (typically) be identified through geological evidence, such as glacial deposits and isotopic analysis of sediments.
- It can (often) lead to significant drops in global temperatures, affecting biodiversity and the distribution of life on Earth.
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- Example(s):
- Gelasian Stage (2.58 million to 1.8 million years ago), characterized by the beginning of extensive glaciations in the Northern Hemisphere.
- Calabrian Stage (1.8 million to 781,000 years ago), notable for the continuation and intensification of ice ages, marking the onset of the mid-Pleistocene transition with less frequent but more intense glaciations.
- Ionian Stage (781,000 to 126,000 years ago), associated with further intensification of glaciations and longer glacial cycles, during which ice sheets reached their maximum extent several times.
- Tarantian Stage (126,000 to 11,700 years ago), encompassing the last glacial period, known as the Last Glacial Maximum, and the final deglaciation leading into the Holocene epoch, marked by rapid warming and ice melt.
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- Counter-Example(s):
- See: Glaciation, Last Glacial Period, Neolithic, Cenozoic.
References
2017
- (Wikipedia, 2017) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleistocene Retrieved:2017-11-1.
- The Pleistocene (often colloquially referred to as the Ice Age) is the geological epoch which lasted from about 2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the world's most recent period of repeated glaciations. The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with the end of the last glacial period and also with the end of the Paleolithic age used in archaeology. The Pleistocene is the first epoch of the Quaternary Period or sixth epoch of the Cenozoic Era.[1] In the ICS timescale, the Pleistocene is divided into four stages or ages, the Gelasian, Calabrian, Ionian and Tarantian. All of these stages were defined in southern Europe. In addition to this international subdivision, various regional subdivisions are often used.
Before a change finally confirmed in 2009 by the International Union of Geological Sciences, the time boundary between the Pleistocene and the preceding Pliocene was regarded as being at 1.806 million years Before Present (BP), as opposed to the currently accepted 2.588 million years BP: publications from the preceding years may use either definition of the period.
- The Pleistocene (often colloquially referred to as the Ice Age) is the geological epoch which lasted from about 2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the world's most recent period of repeated glaciations. The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with the end of the last glacial period and also with the end of the Paleolithic age used in archaeology. The Pleistocene is the first epoch of the Quaternary Period or sixth epoch of the Cenozoic Era.[1] In the ICS timescale, the Pleistocene is divided into four stages or ages, the Gelasian, Calabrian, Ionian and Tarantian. All of these stages were defined in southern Europe. In addition to this international subdivision, various regional subdivisions are often used.
- ↑ In Gradstein, F. M., Ogg, James G., and Smith, A. Gilbert (eds.), A Geologic Time Scale 2004 Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,