File:Mollweide_Paleographic_Map_of_Earth,_21_Ka_(Late_Pleistocene_Age).png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Pleistocene

Also known as Pleistocene Epoch, Pleistocene Series

The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the Ice Age) is the geological epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in 2009 by the International Union of Geological Sciences, the cutoff of the Pleistocene and the preceding Pliocene was regarded as being 1.806 million years Before Present (BP). Publications from earlier years may use either definition of the period. The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with the end of the last glacial period and also with the end of the Paleolith

AI overview

The Pleistocene, commonly called the Ice Age, is a geological epoch that ended 11,700 years ago and was characterized by repeated cycles of glaciation across the Earth. Understanding this period matters because it shaped the planet's landscape and climate patterns that directly influenced early human development and the evolution of modern ecosystems.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Geologic timespan.name: Pleistocene
Geologic timespan.color: Pleistocene
Geologic timespan.time_start: 2.58
Geologic timespan.time_end: 0.0117
Geologic timespan.image_map: File:Mollweide Paleographic Map of Earth, 21 Ka (Late Pleistocene Age).png
Geologic timespan.caption_map: A map of Earth as it appeared approximately 21,000 years ago at the peak of the Last Glacial Maximum during the Late Pleistocene
Geologic timespan.timeline: Quaternary
Geologic timespan.name_formality: Formal
Geologic timespan.celestial_body: earth
Geologic timespan.usage: Global (ICS)
Geologic timespan.chrono_unit: Epoch
Geologic timespan.strat_unit: Series
Geologic timespan.timespan_formality: Formal
Geologic timespan.lower_boundary_def: Base of magnetic polarity chronozone C2r (Matuyama). Extinction of the haptophytes Discoaster pentaradiatus and Discoaster surculus
Geologic timespan.lower_gssp_location: Monte San Nicola Section, Gela, Sicily, Italy
Geologic timespan.lower_gssp_accept_date: 2009 (as base of Quaternary and Pleistocene)
Geologic timespan.upper_boundary_def: End of the Younger Dryas stadial
Geologic timespan.upper_gssp_location: NGRIP2 ice core, Greenland

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Image: EarlyPleistoceneAnimals.png

Show 4 more facts

Commons category: Pleistocene
start time: 2580000-00
end time: 9701-00-00
sRGB color hex triplet: FFEFAF

Sources (7)

via Wikidata · CC0

~24 min read

Article

15 sections

Contents

Etymology
Dating
Deposits
Paleogeography and climate
Glacial features
Major events
Palaeocycles
Milankovitch cycles
Oxygen isotope ratio cycles
Fauna
Humans
See also
Explanatory notes
References
External links

The aridification and cooling trends of the preceding Neogene were continued in the Pleistocene. The climate was strongly variable depending on the glacial cycle, oscillating between cold glacial periods and warmer interglacials, with sea levels dropping at peak glaciation by as much lower than present, allowing the periodic connection of Asia and North America via the Beringia land bridge, and the covering of most of northern North America by the large Laurentide Ice Sheet.