What is an Ice Age quizlet?
What is the Ice Age? A period of time during which low temperatures caused large area of Earth’s water to freeze.
Why are ice ages also called glacial periods quizlet?
An ice age is a long period of climatic cooling during which glaciers advance and retreat. A glacial period is a period during an ice age when glaciers advance. Glacial periods within the last ice age have all lasted for different lengths of time.
What is the possible cause of the Little Ice Age?
The Little Ice Age was caused by the cooling effect of massive volcanic eruptions, and sustained by changes in Arctic ice cover, scientists conclude. An international research team studied ancient plants from Iceland and Canada, and sediments carried by glaciers.
What are some possible causes of an ice age quizlet?
Ice ages could be caused by changes in the Earth’s orbit, in the tilt of the Earth’s axis, by plate tectonics, volcanic eruptions, or asteroid impacts.
When did the ice age or ice advance occur quizlet?
It began about 30,000 years ago, reached its greatest advance 21,000 years ago, and ended about 10,000 years ago. In the Sierra Nevada, these are three named stages of glacial maxima (sometimes incorrectly called ice ages) separated by warmer periods.
What do glaciers do in an ice age?
A glacier’s weight, combined with its gradual movement, can drastically reshape the landscape over hundreds or even thousands of years. The ice erodes the land surface and carries the broken rocks and soil debris far from their original places, resulting in some interesting glacial landforms.
When did the most recent ice age begin quizlet?
The Pleistocene Epoch is typically defined as the time period that began about 1.8 million years ago and lasted until about 11,700 years ago. The most recent Ice Age occurred then, as glaciers covered huge parts of the planet Earth.
When did ice age start?
2.4 million years ago
The Ice Ages began 2.4 million years ago and lasted until 11,500 years ago. During this time, the earth’s climate repeatedly changed between very cold periods, during which glaciers covered large parts of the world (see map below), and very warm periods during which many of the glaciers melted.
When did the ice age end?
11,700 years ago
Also called the Pleistocene era, or simply the Pleistocene, this epoch began about 2.6 million years ago and ended 11,700 years ago, according to the International Commission on Stratigraphy (opens in new tab).
How does climate change during an ice age?
There can be colder and warmer periods during the overall ice-age period. Colder periods lead to more extensive areas of continental ice sheets, valley glaciers and sea ice, while warmer periods lead to reduced areas of ice.
What would happen during an ice age?
Besides the fact it would be an awful lot colder, huge regions where hundreds of millions of people live would become completely uninhabitable. They’d be covered in thick ice sheets and subject to an inhospitable climate.
What was a major effect of the ice age?
The huge glaciers changed air flows and weather patterns and turned previously dry areas into wet areas, leading to the formation of the lakes. The glaciers were so heavy that they caused isostatic depression, which is the sinking of the earth’s crust due to pressure from a heavy weight.