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A minor series of glaciations occurred from 460 to 430 million years ago. There were extensive glaciations from 350 million years before present to 250 million. The present Pleistocene Ice Age has seen more or less extensive glaciation on 40,000 and later, 100,000 year cycles. The last glacial period ended about 10,000 years ago.


PLEISTOCENE GLACIAL CYCLES



Originally, the periods were named after characteristic geological features, and these names vary from region to region. It is now perhaps more common (before the previous interglacial to the current ( Holocene ) one, the Eemian ) to refer to periods by their Marine Isotopic Stage number. The marine record preserves all the past glaciations; the land-based evidence is less complete because successive glaciations may wipe out evidence of their predecessors. Hence the "names" system is incomplete: the Pastonian glaciation is MIS63, i.e., the 30th interglacial before present.

The last glacial and interglacial phases of the Pleistocene are named, from most recent to most distant, as follows. Dates shown are in thousand years BCE.



Other older periods of the Pleistocene

The Brunhes-Matuyama Reversal occurred 780 kyr ago, approximately coincident with MIS19, the "Cromerian Complex" interglacial I, and can be used to date sediment cores.


MAJOR GLACIAL PERIODS



REFERENCES


  • http://www-qpg.geog.cam.ac.uk/people/gibbard/GTS2004Quat.pdf (fig 22.1)



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