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A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate between glacial periods. The Last Glacial Period ended about 15,000 years ago. [1]
Within ice ages, there exist periods of more severe glacial conditions and more temperate conditions, referred to as glacial periods and interglacial periods, respectively. The Earth is currently in such an interglacial period of the Quaternary glaciation, with the Last Glacial Period of the Quaternary having ended approximately 11,700 years ago.
Glacial lakes have been rapidly forming on the surface of the debris-covered glaciers in this region during the last few decades. USGS researchers have found a strong correlation between increasing temperatures and glacial retreat in this region. Glacial motion is the motion of glaciers, which can be likened to rivers of ice. It has played an ...
Last Glacial Period, not to be confused with the Last Glacial Maximum or Late Glacial Maximum below. (The following events also fall into this period.) 48,000–28,000: Mousterian Pluvial wet in North Africa 26,500–19,000: Last Glacial Maximum, what is often meant in popular usage by "Last Ice Age" 16,000–13,000
The remaining glaciers, now occupying about 10% of the world's land surface, cover Greenland, Antarctica and some mountainous regions. During the glacial periods, the present (i.e., interglacial) hydrologic system was completely interrupted throughout large areas of the world and was considerably modified in others.
An artist's impression of the last glacial period at glacial maximum [4]. The LGP is often colloquially referred to as the "last ice age", though the term ice age is not strictly defined, and on a longer geological perspective, the last few million years could be termed a single ice age given the continual presence of ice sheets near both poles.
Last Glacial Period, the most recent glacial period (115,000 to 11,700 years ago) Penultimate Glacial Period, the glacial period that occurred before the Last Glacial Period; Late Cenozoic Ice Age, the geologic period of the last 33.9 million years; Little Ice Age, a period of relative cold in certain regions from roughly 1450–1480
Periods of greater ice stream flow result in more ice transfer from ice sheets to the ocean, raising sea level. [10] At the margin between glacial ice and water, ice calving takes place as glaciers begin to fracture, and icebergs break off from the large masses of ice.