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The formation of 3 to 4 km (1.9 to 2.5 mi) thick ice sheets equate to a global sea level drop of about 120 m (390 ft) The Quaternary glaciation, also known as the Pleistocene glaciation, is an alternating series of glacial and interglacial periods during the Quaternary period that began 2.58 Ma (million years ago) and is ongoing.
The Pliocene (/ ˈ p l aɪ. ə s iː n, ˈ p l aɪ. oʊ-/ PLY-ə-seen, PLY-oh-; [6] [7] also Pleiocene) [8] is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58 [9] million years ago (Ma). It is the second and most recent epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by ...
The Pleistocene (/ ˈ p l aɪ s t ə ˌ s iː n,-s t oʊ-/ PLY-stə-seen, -stoh-; [4] [5] referred to colloquially as the Ice Age) is the geological epoch that lasted from c. 2.58 million to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations.
The Earth is currently in an interglacial period called the Holocene epoch. [1] However, there is debate as to whether it is actually a separate epoch or merely an interglacial period within the Pleistocene epoch. [2] [3] Between 9,000 and 5,000 years ago there was a warm period called the Holocene climatic optimum.
The Mid-Piacenzian Warm Period (mPWP) (prior to 2009 known as the Middle Pliocene Warm Period), or the Pliocene Thermal Maximum, was an interval of warm climate during the Pliocene epoch that lasted from 3.3 to 3.0 million years ago (Ma).
The Quaternary (/ k w ə ˈ t ɜːr n ə r i, ˈ k w ɒ t ər n ɛr i / kwə-TUR-nə-ree, KWOT-ər-nerr-ee) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the Phanerozoic eon. [3]
The Plio-Pleistocene is an informally described geological pseudo-period, which begins about 5 million years ago (Mya) and, drawing forward, combines the time ranges of the formally defined Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs—marking from about 5 Mya to about 12 kya.
The Early Pleistocene is an unofficial sub-epoch in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, representing the earliest division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently estimated to span the time between 2.580 ± 0.005 Ma (million years ago) and 0.773 ± 0.005 Ma.