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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]
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. The current interglacial is known as the Holocene epoch. [1] Based on climate proxies, paleoclimatologists study the different climate states originating from glaciation.
An ice cap can be defined as a dome-shaped mass of ice that exhibits a radial flow. [5] They are often easily confused with ice sheets, but these ice structures are smaller than 50,000 km 2, and obscure the entirety of the topography they span. [5] They mainly form in polar and sub-polar regions with particularly high elevation but flat ground. [4]
Knowledge of precise climatic events decreases as the record goes further back in time. The timeline of glaciation covers ice ages specifically, which tend to have their own names for phases, often with different names used for different parts of the world. The names for earlier periods and events come from geology and paleontology.
The movement of the water is influenced and directed by gravity and the melting of ice. [1] The melting of ice forms different types of glacial streams such as supraglacial, englacial, subglacial and proglacial streams. [1] Water enters supraglacial streams that sit at the top of the glacier via filtering through snow in the accumulation zone ...
Water in subglacial streams is subject to large amounts of pressure from the mass of ice above; as a result, the direction of water flow cannot be explained in the same way as typical surface streams. [2] Subglacial water flow is, to a large extent, determined by pressure gradients created by the weight and movement of the glacier. [1]
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 ...
Movement (of ice) in a constant direction. Fracture Brittle failure (breaking of ice) under the stress raised when movement is too rapid to be accommodated by creep. It happens, for example, as the central part of a glacier moves faster than the edges. Glacial landform Collective name for the morphologic structures in/on/under/around a glacier ...