WHAT IS THE LAST GLACIAL MAXIMUM?

The geological period dating between 25,000 and 14,000 bp, during which global temperatures reached the lowest levels of the Upper Pleistocene (127,000–10,000 bp). Massive continental ice sheets formed in the northern hemisphere and sea levels fell worldwide. The people were anatomically modern and conducted industries of the Upper Paleolithic in unglaciated parts of the Old World.

WHAT IS THE ICE AGE?

A period of intense cold and the expansion of glaciers, resulting in a lower sea level. Such periods of large-scale glaciation may last several million years and drastically reshape surface features of entire continents. In the past, there were many ice ages; the earliest known took place during Precambrian time dating back more than 570 million years. The most recent periods of widespread glaciation occurred during the Pleistocene epoch (1,600,000–10,000 years ago). A lesser, recent glacial stage called the Little Ice Age began in the 16th century and advanced and receded intermittently over three centuries. Its maximum development was reached about 1750, at which time glaciers were more widespread on Earth than at any time since the principal Quaternary ice ages. The idea of an ice age in the geological sequence is usually credited to Jean Louis Agassiz, a Swiss naturalist, who suggested it c. 1837. Agassiz conceived a worldwide cold period when areas as far apart as North America and Germany had been glaciated.

WHAT IS THE GUNZ GLACIATION?

First major Alpine glacial advance and first major Pleistocene glaciation (ice age), which started c. 590,000 years ago and lasted until the end of the Mindel glaciation. The Günz preceded the Günz-Mindel interglacial and followed the Donau-Günz interglacial, both periods of relatively moderate climatic conditions. The Günz is correlated with the Baventian stage of marine deposits of Great Britain and the Menapian glacial stage of northern Europe. It is broadly equivalent to the Nebraskan glacial stage of North America.