{{short description|Period of major glaciations of the Northern Hemisphere (115,000–12,000 years ago)}} {{Redirect|Last glacial|the period of maximum glacier extent during this time|Last Glacial Maximum}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2017}} [[File:Approximate chronology of Heinrich events vs Dansgaard-Oeschger events and Antarctic Isotope Maxima.png|thumb|A chronology of climatic events of importance for the Last Glacial Period, about the last 120,000 years|upright=1.3]] [[File:Global sea levels during the last Ice Age.jpg|thumb|The Last Glacial Period caused a much lower global sea level.|upright=1.3]]

The '''Last Glacial Period''' ('''LGP'''), also known as the '''last glacial cycle''', occurred from the end of the [[Last Interglacial]] to the beginning of the [[Holocene]], {{c.|115,000|11,700|lk=yes}} years ago, and thus corresponds to most of the timespan of the [[Late Pleistocene]].<ref>{{cite journal| last=Corrick |first=Ellen |display-authors=etal| journal=Science |title=Synchronous timing of abrupt climate changes during the last glacial period|volume=369 |number=6506 |url= https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.aay5538 |date=21 August 2020 |pages= 963–969|doi=10.1126/science.aay5538 |issn= }}</ref> It thus formed the most recent period of what is colloquially known as the "[[Pleistocene|Ice Age]]".

The LGP is part of a larger sequence of glacial and [[interglacial]] periods known as the [[Quaternary glaciation]] which started around 2,588,000 years ago and is ongoing.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Clayton, Lee |author2=Attig, John W. |author3=Mickelson, David M. |author4=Johnson, Mark D. |author5=Syverson, Kent M. |title=Glaciation of Wisconsin |publisher=Dept. Geology, University of Wisconsin |url=http://www.geology.wisc.edu/~davem/abstracts/06-1.pdf}}</ref> The glaciation and the current [[Quaternary|Quaternary Period]] both began with the formation of the [[Arctic ice pack|Arctic ice cap]]. The [[Antarctic ice sheet]] began to form earlier, at about 34 Mya (million years ago), in the mid-[[Cenozoic]] ([[Eocene–Oligocene extinction event]]), and the term [[Late Cenozoic Ice Age]] is used to include this early phase with the current glaciation.<ref name="UHCL">University of Houston–Clear Lake – Disasters Class Notes – Chapter 12: Climate Change sce.uhcl.edu/Pitts/disastersclassnotes/chapter_12_Climate_Change.doc</ref> The previous ice age within the Quaternary is the [[Penultimate Glacial Period]], which ended about 128,000 years ago, was more severe than the Last Glacial Period in some areas such as Britain, but less severe in others.

The last glacial period saw alternating episodes of glacier advance and retreat with the [[Last Glacial Maximum]] occurring between 26,000 and 20,000 years ago. While the general pattern of cooling and glacier advance around the globe was similar, local differences make it difficult to compare the details from continent to continent (see picture of ice core data below for differences). The most recent cooling, the [[Younger Dryas]], began around 12,800 years ago and ended around 11,700 years ago, also marking the end of the LGP and the [[Pleistocene]] epoch. It was followed by the [[Holocene]], the current [[Geologic time scale|geological]] [[Epoch (geology)|epoch]].

==Origin and definition== [[File:IceAgeEarth.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|An artist's impression of the last glacial period at glacial maximum<ref>{{cite journal |author=Crowley, Thomas J. |title=Ice age terrestrial carbon changes revisited |journal=Global Biogeochemical Cycles |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=377–389 |year=1995 |doi=10.1029/95GB01107 |url=http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/1995/95GB01107.shtml |bibcode=1995GBioC...9..377C |access-date=February 25, 2012 |archive-date=November 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101094733/http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/1995/95GB01107.shtml |url-status=dead |url-access=subscription }}</ref>]] The LGP is often colloquially referred to as the "last ice age", though the term [[ice age]] is not strictly defined, and on a longer geological perspective, the last few million years could be termed a single ice age given the continual presence of [[ice sheet]]s near both poles. Glacials are somewhat better defined, as colder phases during which glaciers advance, separated by relatively warm [[interglacial]]s. The end of the last glacial period, which was about 10,000 years ago, is often called the end of the ice age, although extensive year-round ice persists in Antarctica and [[Greenland]]. Over the past few million years, the glacial-interglacial cycles have been "paced" by periodic variations in the Earth's orbit via [[Milankovitch cycles]].{{cn|date=April 2026}}

The LGP has been intensively studied in North America, northern Eurasia, the [[Himalayas]], and other formerly glaciated regions around the world. The glaciations that occurred during this glacial period covered many areas, mainly in the Northern Hemisphere and to a lesser extent in the Southern Hemisphere. They have different names, historically developed and depending on their geographic distributions: ''Fraser'' (in the [[Pacific Cordillera]] of North America), ''Pinedale'' (in the [[Central Rocky Mountains]]), ''Wisconsinan'' or ''[[Wisconsin glaciation|Wisconsin]]'' (in central North America), ''Devensian'' (in the British Isles),<ref>{{cite book|first=J. A. |display-authors=etal |last=Catt|chapter=Quaternary: Ice Sheets and their Legacy|editor1-first=P. J.|editor1-last=Brenchley |editor2-first=P. F. |editor2-last=Rawson|title=The Geology of England and Wales|edition=2nd|publisher=The Geological Society|location=London|year=2006|pages=451–52|isbn=978-1-86239-199-4}}</ref> ''Midlandian'' (in Ireland), ''[[Würm glaciation|Würm]]'' (in the [[Alps]]), ''Mérida'' (in [[Venezuela]]), ''[[Weichselian glaciation|Weichselian]]'' or ''[[Vistulian glaciation|Vistulian]]'' (in Northern Europe and northern Central Europe), ''Valdai'' in Russia and ''Zyryanka'' in [[Siberia]], ''[[Llanquihue glaciation|Llanquihue]]'' in [[Chile]], and ''Otira'' in New Zealand. The geochronological [[Late Pleistocene]] includes the late glacial (Weichselian) and the immediately preceding [[Penultimate Glacial Period|penultimate interglacial]] ([[Eemian]]) period.{{cn|date=April 2026}}

==Overview== [[File:Last Glacial Maximum Vegetation Map.svg|thumb|Vegetation types at the time of the [[Last Glacial Maximum]]|upright=1.3]] [[File:Ice-core-isotope.png|thumb|Last glacial period, as seen in [[ice core]] data from Antarctica and [[Greenland]]|upright=1.3]]

===Northern Hemisphere=== [[Canada]] was almost completely covered by ice, as was the northern part of the [[United States]], both blanketed by the huge [[Laurentide Ice Sheet]]. [[Alaska]] remained mostly ice free due to arid climate conditions. Local glaciations existed in the [[Rocky Mountains]] and the [[Cordilleran ice sheet]] and as [[ice field]]s and [[ice cap]]s in the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] in northern [[California]].<ref>{{Cite thesis |type=Ph.D. |title=Extent, timing, and climatic significance of latest Pleistocene and Holocene glaciation in the Sierra Nevada, California |url=http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/527434-ROZavF/webviewable/ |last=Clark |first=D.H. |publisher=Washington University |location=Seattle |format=PDF 20 Mb}}</ref> In northern Eurasia, the [[Scandinavian ice sheet]] once again reached the northern parts of the [[British Isles]], [[Germany]], [[Poland]], and Russia, extending as far east as the [[Taymyr Peninsula]] in western Siberia.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Möller, P. |title=Severnaya Zemlya, Arctic Russia: a nucleation area for Kara Sea ice sheets during the Middle to Late Quaternary |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=25 |issue=21–22 |pages=2894–2936 |year=2006 |url=http://www.geol.lu.se/personal/prm/PDF_papers%20full%20text/QSR-2007_SZ_Severnaya_Z.pdf |format=PDF 11.5 Mb |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2006.02.016 |display-authors=etal |bibcode=2006QSRv...25.2894M |access-date=February 9, 2008 |archive-date=October 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003084020/http://www.geol.lu.se/personal/prm/PDF_papers%20full%20text/QSR-2007_SZ_Severnaya_Z.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The maximum extent of western Siberian glaciation was reached by about 18,000 to 17,000 BP, later than in Europe (22,000–18,000 BP).<ref>[http://atlas-conferences.com/c/a/h/i/79.htm Matti Saarnisto: ''Climate variability during the last interglacial-glacial cycle in NW Eurasia.'' Abstracts of PAGES – PEPIII: Past Climate Variability Through Europe and Africa, 2001] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080406040411/http://atlas-conferences.com/c/a/h/i/79.htm |date=April 6, 2008}}</ref> Northeastern Siberia was not covered by a continental-scale ice sheet.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Gualtieri, Lyn|title=Pleistocene raised marine deposits on Wrangel Island, northeast Siberia and implications for the presence of an East Siberian ice sheet |journal=Quaternary Research |volume=59 |issue=3 |pages=399–410 |date=May 2003 |doi=10.1016/S0033-5894(03)00057-7 |display-authors=etal|bibcode=2003QuRes..59..399G|s2cid=58945572 }}</ref> Instead, large, but restricted, icefield complexes covered mountain ranges within northeast Siberia, including the Kamchatka-Koryak Mountains.<ref>{{harvnb|Ehlers|Gibbard|2004 III|pp=321–323}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Barr, I.D |author2=Clark, C.D. |title=Glaciers and Climate in Pacific Far NE Russia during the Last Glacial Maximum |journal=Journal of Quaternary Science |year=2011 |doi=10.1002/jqs.1450 |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=227 |bibcode=2011JQS....26..227B |s2cid=128597090 |url=https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/619060/1/Barr%20and%20Clark%20%25282011%2529.pdf }}</ref>

The Arctic Ocean between the huge ice sheets of America and Eurasia was not frozen throughout, but like today, probably was covered only by relatively shallow ice, subject to seasonal changes and riddled with [[iceberg]]s [[ice calving|calving]] from the surrounding ice sheets. According to the sediment composition retrieved from deep-sea [[core sample|cores]], even times of seasonally open waters must have occurred.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Spielhagen, Robert F.|title=Arctic Ocean deep-sea record of northern Eurasian ice sheet history |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=23 |issue=11–13 |pages=1455–83 |year=2004 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2003.12.015 |display-authors=etal|bibcode=2004QSRv...23.1455S }}</ref>

Outside the main ice sheets, widespread glaciation occurred on the highest mountains of the [[Alpide Belt|Alpide belt]]. In contrast to the earlier glacial stages, the Würm glaciation was composed of smaller ice caps and mostly confined to valley glaciers, sending glacial lobes into the Alpine [[Foreland basin|foreland]]. Local ice fields or small ice sheets could be found capping the highest massifs of the [[Pyrenees]], the [[Carpathian Mountains]], the [[Balkan Mountains]], the [[Caucasus]], and the mountains of [[Turkey]] and [[Iran]].<ref>{{cite web |author1=Williams, Richard S. Jr. |author2=Ferrigno, Jane G. |title=Glaciers of the Middle East and Africa – Glaciers of Turkey |year=1991 |work=U.S.Geological Survey Professional Paper 1386-G-1 |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1386g/turkey.pdf |format=PDF 2.5 Mb}}<br/>{{cite web |author=Ferrigno, Jane G. |title=Glaciers of the Middle East and Africa – Glaciers of Iran |year=1991 |work=U.S.Geological Survey Professional Paper 1386-G-2 |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1386g/iran.pdf |format=PDF 1.25 Mb}}</ref>

In the Himalayas and the [[Tibetan Plateau]], there is evidence that glaciers advanced considerably, particularly between 47,000 and 27,000 BP,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Owen, Lewis A.|title=A note on the extent of glaciation throughout the Himalaya during the global Last Glacial Maximum |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=147–157 |year=2002 |doi=10.1016/S0277-3791(01)00104-4 |display-authors=etal|bibcode=2002QSRv...21..147O }}</ref> but the exact ages,<ref>[https://archive.today/20130203010255/http://www.springerlink.com/content/e10418h723xt56q5/?p=dccb178ff88146f8bb3301b0475d29c4&pi=0 Kuhle, M., Kuhle, S. (2010): Review on Dating methods: Numerical Dating in the Quaternary of High Asia. In: Journal of Mountain Science (2010) 7: 105–122.]</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Chevalier, Marie-Luce|title=Constraints on the late Quaternary glaciations in Tibet from cosmogenic exposure ages of moraine surfaces |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=30 |issue=5–6 |pages=528–554 |year=2011 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.11.005 |display-authors=etal|bibcode=2011QSRv...30..528C }}</ref> as well as the formation of a single contiguous ice sheet on the Tibetan Plateau, is controversial.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kuhle|first=Matthias|author-link=Matthias Kuhle|year=2002|title=A relief-specific model of the ice age on the basis of uplift-controlled glacier areas in Tibet and the corresponding albedo increase as well as their positive climatological feedback by means of the global radiation geometry|journal=Climate Research|volume=20|pages=1–7|bibcode=2002ClRes..20....1K|doi=10.3354/cr020001|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Ehlers|Gibbard|2004 III|loc={{cite book |title=Quaternary Glaciations - Extent and Chronology|author=Kuhle, M |author-link=Matthias Kuhle |chapter=The High Glacial (Last Ice Age and LGM) ice cover in High and Central Asia |pages=175–199|isbn=9780444534477 |date=2011-08-31 |publisher=Elsevier }}}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Lehmkuhl, F.|year=2003|title=Die eiszeitliche Vergletscherung Hochasiens – lokale Vergletscherungen oder übergeordneter Eisschild?|url=http://www.pgg.rwth-aachen.de/index.php?id=lef-abstracts|url-status=dead|journal=Geographische Rundschau|volume=55|issue=2|pages=28–33|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070707054638/http://www.pgg.rwth-aachen.de/index.php?id=lef-abstracts|archive-date=July 7, 2007|access-date=February 9, 2008}}</ref> [[File:Ice_age_fauna_of_northern_Spain_-_Mauricio_Antón.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The [[Late Pleistocene]] saw [[Quaternary extinction event|extinction]]s of numerous predominantly megafaunal species, coinciding in time with the [[early human migrations]] across continents.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Smith|first1=Felisa A.|display-authors=etal.|date=20 April 2018|title=Body size downgrading of mammals over the late Quaternary|journal=Science|volume=360|issue=6386|pages=310–313|doi=10.1126/science.aao5987|pmid=29674591|bibcode=2018Sci...360..310S|doi-access=free}}</ref>]] Other areas of the Northern Hemisphere did not bear extensive ice sheets, but local glaciers were widespread at high altitudes. Parts of [[Taiwan]], for example, were repeatedly glaciated between 44,250 and 10,680 BP<ref>{{cite journal |author=Zhijiu Cui|title=The Quaternary glaciation of Shesan Mountain in Taiwan and glacial classification in monsoon areas |journal=Quaternary International |volume=97–98 |pages=147–153 |year=2002 |doi=10.1016/S1040-6182(02)00060-5 |display-authors=etal|bibcode=2002QuInt..97..147C |url=http://ntur.lib.ntu.edu.tw//handle/246246/173509 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> as well as the [[Japanese Alps]]. In both areas, maximum glacier advance occurred between 60,000 and 30,000 BP.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Yugo Ono|title=Mountain glaciation in Japan and Taiwan at the global Last Glacial Maximum |journal=Quaternary International |volume=138–139 |pages=79–92 |date=September–October 2005 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2005.02.007 |display-authors=etal|bibcode=2005QuInt.138...79O }}</ref> To a still lesser extent, glaciers existed in Africa, for example in the [[High Atlas]], the mountains of [[Morocco]], the [[Mount Atakor]] massif in southern [[Algeria]], and several mountains in [[Ethiopia]]. Just south of the equator, an ice cap of several hundred square kilometers was present on the east African mountains in the [[Mount Kilimanjaro|Kilimanjaro massif]], [[Mount Kenya]], and the [[Rwenzori Mountains]], which still bear relic glaciers today.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Young, James A.T. |author2=Hastenrath, Stefan |title=Glaciers of the Middle East and Africa – Glaciers of Africa |year=1991 |work=U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1386-G-3 |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1386g/africa.pdf |format=PDF 1.25 Mb}}</ref>

===Southern Hemisphere=== Glaciation of the Southern Hemisphere was less extensive. Ice sheets existed in the Andes ([[Patagonian Ice Sheet]]), where six glacier advances between 33,500 and 13,900 BP in the Chilean Andes have been reported.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Lowell, T.V.|title=Interhemisperic correlation of late Pleistocene glacial events |journal=Science |volume=269 |pages=1541–49 |year=1995 |url=http://www.uc.edu/geology/documents/lowell_abstracts/lowellsci.pdf |format=PDF 2.3 Mb |doi=10.1126/science.269.5230.1541 |pmid=17789444 |issue=5230|display-authors=etal|bibcode=1995Sci...269.1541L |s2cid=13594891 }}</ref> Antarctica was entirely glaciated, much like today, but unlike today the ice sheet left no uncovered area. In mainland Australia only a very small area in the vicinity of [[Mount Kosciuszko]] was glaciated, whereas in [[Tasmania]] glaciation was more widespread.<ref>{{cite web|author=Ollier, C.D. |title=Australian Landforms and their History |work=National Mapping Fab |publisher=Geoscience Australia |url=http://www.ga.gov.au/education/facts/landforms/auslform.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080808081441/https://www.ga.gov.au/education/facts/landforms/auslform.htm |archive-date=August 8, 2008 }}</ref> An ice sheet formed in New Zealand, covering all of the Southern Alps, where at least three glacial advances can be distinguished.<ref>{{cite journal |title=A mid Otira Glaciation palaeosol and flora from the Castle Hill Basin, Canterbury, New Zealand |journal=New Zealand Journal of Botany |volume=34 |pages=539–545 |year=1996 |url=http://www.rsnz.org/publish/nzjb/1996/167.pdf |format=PDF 340 Kb |doi=10.1080/0028825X.1996.10410134 |last1=Burrows |first1=C. J. |last2=Moar |first2=N. T. |issue=4 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227092356/http://www.rsnz.org/publish/nzjb/1996/167.pdf |archive-date=February 27, 2008 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

Local ice caps existed in the highest mountains of the island of [[New Guinea]], where temperatures were 5 to 6&nbsp;°C colder than at present.<ref name="Löffler-1972">{{Cite journal|last=Löffler|first=Ernst|year=1972|title=Pleistocene glaciation in Papua and New Guinea|journal=[[Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie]]|volume=Supplementband 13|pages=32–58}}</ref><ref name="Allison-1988" /> The main areas of Papua New Guinea where glaciers developed during the LGP were [[New Guinea Highlands|the Central Cordillera]], the [[Owen Stanley Range]], and the [[Saruwaged Range]]. [[Mount Giluwe]] in the Central Cordillera had a "more or less continuous ice cap covering about 188 km<sup>2</sup> and extending down to 3200-3500 m".<ref name="Löffler-1972" /> In [[Western New Guinea]], remnants of these glaciers are still preserved atop [[Puncak Jaya]] and [[Ngga Pilimsit]].<ref name="Allison-1988">{{cite book |author1=Allison, Ian |author2=Peterson, James A. |title=Glaciers of Irian Jaya, Indonesia: Observation and Mapping of the Glaciers Shown on Landsat Images |id=U.S. Geological Survey professional paper 1386 |year=1988 |publisher=United States Geological Survey |isbn=978-0-607-71457-9 |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/prof/p1386h/indonesia/indonesia2.html |access-date=February 9, 2008 |archive-date=August 1, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080801143234/http://pubs.usgs.gov/prof/p1386h/indonesia/indonesia2.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Small glaciers developed in a few favorable places in [[Southern Africa]] during the last glacial period.<ref name="Mills-2017">{{cite journal|date=2017|title=The cold climate geomorphology of the Eastern Cape Drakensberg: A reevaluation of past climatic conditions during the last glacial cycle in Southern Africa|url=https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/handle/10026.1/8086|journal=[[Geomorphology (journal)|Geomorphology]]|volume=278|pages=184–194|bibcode=2017Geomo.278..184M|doi=10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.11.011|author-last=Mills|author-first=S.C.|author-last2=Barrows|author-first2=T.T.|author-last3=Telfer|author-first3=M.W.|author-last4=Fifield|author-first4=L.K.|hdl=10026.1/8086|hdl-access=free|access-date=December 16, 2019|archive-date=February 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213055517/https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/handle/10026.1/8086|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{efn-ua|Prior to the 2010s, considerable debate arose on whether Southern Africa was glaciated during the last glacial cycle or not.<ref name="Mills-2017"/><ref name="Sumner-2004">{{cite journal|author-last=Sumner |author-first=P.D. |date=2004 |title=Geomorphic and climatic implications of relict openwork block accumulations near Thabana-Ntlenyana, Lesotho |journal=[[Geografiska Annaler|Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography]] |volume=86|issue=3 |pages= 289–302 |doi=10.1111/j.0435-3676.2004.00232.x|s2cid=128774864 }}</ref>}}{{efn-ua|The former existence of large glaciers or deep snow cover over much of the Lesotho Highlands has been judged unlikely considering the lack of glacial morphology (e.g. [[roche moutonnée]]s) and the existence of [[periglacial]] [[regolith]] that has not been reworked by glaciers.<ref name="Sumner-2004"/> Estimates of the mean annual temperature in Southern Africa during the last glacial maximum indicate the temperatures were not low enough to initiate or sustain a widespread glaciation. The former existence of [[rock glacier]]s or large glaciers is, according to the same study, ruled out, because of a lack of conclusive field evidence and the implausibility of the 10–17&nbsp;°C temperature drop, relative to the present, that such features would imply.<ref name="Mills-2017"/>}} These small glaciers would have been located in the [[Lesotho Highlands]] and parts of the [[Drakensberg]].<ref name="Mills-2012">{{cite journal|last1=Mills |first1=Stephanie C.|last2=Grab |first2=Stefan W. |last3=Rea |first3=Brice R.|last4=Farrow |first4=Aidan |date=2012 |title=Shifting westerlies and precipitation patterns during the Late Pleistocene in southern Africa determined using glacier reconstruction and mass balance modelling |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=55 |pages=145–159 |doi= 10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.08.012|bibcode=2012QSRv...55..145M}}</ref><ref name="Hall-2010"/> The development of glaciers was likely aided in part due to shade provided by adjacent cliffs.<ref name="Hall-2010">{{cite journal|author-last=Hall |author-first=Kevin |date=2010 |title=The shape of glacial valleys and implications for southern African glaciation |journal=[[South African Geographical Journal]] |volume=92|issue=1 |pages=35–44 |doi=10.1080/03736245.2010.485360|hdl=2263/15429 |s2cid=55436521 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Various [[moraine]]s and former glacial niches have been identified in the eastern Lesotho Highlands a few kilometres west of the [[Great Escarpment, Southern Africa|Great Escarpment]], at altitudes greater than 3,000 m on south-facing slopes.<ref name="Mills-2012"/> Studies suggest that the annual average temperature in the mountains of Southern Africa was about 6&nbsp;°C colder than at present, in line with temperature drops estimated for [[Tasmania]] and southern [[Patagonia]] during the same time. This resulted in an environment of relatively arid periglaciation without [[permafrost]], but with deep seasonal freezing on south-facing slopes. Periglaciation in the eastern Drakensberg and Lesotho Highlands produced [[solifluction|solifluction deposits]] and [[blockfield]]s; including blockstreams and stone garlands.<ref name="Mills-2017"/><ref name="Sumner-2004"/>

==Deglaciation== {{main|Holocene glacial retreat}} {{See also|Bølling–Allerød warming|Meltwater pulse 1A|Deglaciation}} [[File:20191021 Temperature from 20,000 to 10,000 years ago - recovery from ice age.png|thumb|upright=1.3|A temperature rise marking the end of the most recent ice age, as derived from ice core data]] Scientists from the Center for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate at the [[University of Tromsø]], published a study in June 2017<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/06/01/like-champagne-bottles-being-opened-scientists-document-an-ancient-arctic-methane-explosion|title=Like 'champagne bottles being opened': Scientists document an ancient Arctic methane explosion|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=June 1, 2017}}</ref> describing over a hundred [[ocean sediment]] craters, some 3,000 m wide and up to 300 m deep, formed by explosive eruptions of [[methane]] from destabilized [[methane hydrates]], following ice-sheet retreat during the LGP, around 12,000 years ago. These areas around the [[Barents Sea]] still seep methane today. The study hypothesized that existing bulges containing [[methane reservoirs]] could eventually have the same fate.{{cn|date=April 2026}}

==Named local glaciations==

=== Antarctica === During the last glacial period, Antarctica was blanketed by a massive ice sheet, much as it is today. The ice covered all land areas and extended into the ocean onto the middle and outer continental shelf.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Anderson |first1=J. B. |first2=S. S. |last2=Shipp |first3=A. L. |last3=Lowe |first4=J. S. |last4=Wellner |first5=A. B. |last5=Mosola |year=2002 |title=The Antarctic Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum and its subsequent retreat history: a review |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=21 |issue=1–3 |pages=49–70 |doi=10.1016/S0277-3791(01)00083-X |bibcode=2002QSRv...21...49A }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Ehlers|Gibbard|2004 III|loc={{cite book |last=Ingolfsson |first=O |url=http://www.hi.is/~oi/AG-326%202006%20readings/Antarctica/Ingolfsson_SUMMARY.pdf |title=Quaternary glacial and climate history of Antarctica |pages=3–43 }}}}</ref> Counterintuitively though, according to ice modeling done in 2002, ice over central [[East Antarctica]] was generally thinner than it is today.<ref>{{cite journal |first=P. |last=Huybrechts |title=Sea-level changes at the LGM from ice-dynamic reconstructions of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets during the glacial cycles |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=21 |issue=1–3 |pages=203–231 |year=2002 |doi=10.1016/S0277-3791(01)00082-8 |bibcode=2002QSRv...21..203H |url=https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/4507/1/Huy2002a.pdf }}</ref>

===Europe===

====Devensian and Midlandian glaciation (Britain and Ireland)==== British [[geologist]]s refer to the LGP as the '''Devensian'''. Irish geologists, geographers, and archaeologists refer to the '''Midlandian''' glaciation, as its effects in Ireland are largely visible in the [[Irish Midlands]]. The name Devensian is derived from the [[Latin]] ''Dēvenses'', people living by the [[River Dee (Wales)|Dee]] (''Dēva'' in Latin), a river on the Welsh border near which deposits from the period are particularly well represented.<ref>[[Oxford English Dictionary|OED]]</ref>

The effects of this glaciation can be seen in many geological features of England, Wales, Scotland, and [[Northern Ireland]]. Its deposits have been found overlying material from the preceding [[Ipswichian]] stage and lying beneath those from the following [[Holocene]], which is the current stage. This is sometimes called the [[Flandrian interglacial]] in Britain.{{cn|date=April 2026}}

The latter part of the Devensian includes [[pollen zone]]s I–IV, the [[Allerød oscillation]] and [[Bølling oscillation]], and the [[Oldest Dryas]], [[Older Dryas]], and [[Younger Dryas]] cold periods.{{cn|date=April 2026}}

====Weichselian glaciation (Scandinavia and northern Europe)==== {{main|Weichselian glaciation}} [[File:Weichsel-Würm-Glaciation.png|thumb|upright=1.3|Europe during the last glacial period]] Alternative names include ''Weichsel glaciation'' or ''Vistulian glaciation'' (referring to the Polish River [[Vistula]] or its German name Weichsel). Evidence suggests that the ice sheets were at their [[Last Glacial Maximum|maximum size]] for only a short period, between 25,000 and 13,000 BP. Eight [[interstadial]]s have been recognized in the Weichselian, including the Oerel, Glinde, Moershoofd, Hengelo, and Denekamp. Correlation with [[Marine isotope stage|isotope stages]] is still in process.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Behre Karl-Ernst, van der Plicht Johannes | year = 1992 | title = Towards an absolute chronology for the last glacial period in Europe: radiocarbon dates from Oerel, northern Germany | url = https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/14450372/1992VegetHistArchaeobotBehre.pdf| journal = Vegetation History and Archaeobotany | volume = 1 | issue = 2| pages = 111–117 | doi = 10.1007/BF00206091 | s2cid = 55969605 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Davis |first=Owen K. |year=2003 |url=http://www.geo.arizona.edu/palynology/geos462/07nonmarin.html |title=Non-Marine Records: Correlations with the Marine Sequence |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727164508/http://www.geo.arizona.edu/palynology/geos462/07nonmarin.html |archive-date=July 27, 2017 |work=Introduction to Quaternary Ecology |publisher=University of Arizona}}</ref> During the glacial maximum in Scandinavia, only the western parts of [[Jutland]] were ice-free, and a large part of what is today the [[North Sea]] was dry land connecting Jutland with Britain (see [[Doggerland]]).{{cn|date=April 2026}}

The [[Baltic Sea]], with its unique [[brackish water]], is a result of meltwater from the Weichsel glaciation combining with saltwater from the North Sea when the straits between Sweden and Denmark opened. Initially, when the ice began melting about 10,300 BP, seawater filled the [[isostasy|isostatically depressed]] area, a temporary [[sea level|marine incursion]] that geologists dub the [[Yoldia Sea]]. Then, as [[Post-glacial rebound|postglacial isostatic rebound]] lifted the region about 9500 BP, the deepest basin of the Baltic became a freshwater lake, in palaeological contexts referred to as [[Ancylus Lake]], which is identifiable in the freshwater fauna found in sediment cores.{{cn|date=April 2026}}

The lake was filled by glacial runoff, but as worldwide sea level continued rising, saltwater again breached the sill about 8000 BP, forming a marine [[Littorina Sea]], which was followed by another freshwater phase before the present brackish marine system was established. "At its present state of development, the marine life of the Baltic Sea is less than about 4000 years old", Drs. Thulin and Andrushaitis remarked when reviewing these sequences in 2003.{{cn|date=April 2026}}

Overlying ice had exerted pressure on the Earth's surface. As a result of melting ice, the land has continued to rise yearly in Scandinavia, mostly in northern Sweden and Finland, where the land is rising at a rate of as much as 8–9&nbsp;mm per year, or 1 m in 100 years. This is important for archaeologists, since a site that was coastal in the [[Nordic Stone Age]] now is inland and can be dated by its relative distance from the present shore.{{cn|date=April 2026}}

====Würm glaciation (Alps)==== {{main|Würm glaciation}} [[File:Map of Alpine Glaciations.png|thumb|Violet: the extent of the Alpine ice sheet in the [[Würm glaciation]]. Blue: extent in earlier ice ages.|upright=1.3]] The term ''[[Würm glaciation|Würm]]'' is derived from [[Würm (Amper)|Würm]], a river in the Alpine foreland, roughly marking the maximum glacier advance of this particular glacial period. The Alps were where the first systematic scientific research on ice ages was conducted by [[Louis Agassiz]] at the beginning of the 19th century. Here, the Würm glaciation of the LGP was intensively studied. [[Palynology|Pollen analysis]], the statistical analyses of [[microfossil]]ized plant pollens found in geological deposits, chronicled the dramatic changes in the European environment during the Würm glaciation. During the height of Würm glaciation, {{c.|24,000|10,000}}&nbsp;BP, most of western and central Europe and Eurasia was open steppe-tundra, while the Alps presented solid ice fields and montane glaciers. Scandinavia and much of Britain were under ice.{{cn|date=April 2026}}

During the Würm, the [[Rhône Glacier]] covered the whole western Swiss plateau, reaching today's regions of Solothurn and Aargau. In the region of Bern, it merged with the Aar glacier. The [[Rhine Glacier]] is currently the subject of the most detailed studies. Glaciers of the Reuss and the Limmat advanced sometimes as far as the Jura. Montane and piedmont glaciers formed the land by grinding away virtually all traces of the older Günz and Mindel glaciation, by depositing base moraines and terminal moraines of different retraction phases and [[loess]] deposits, and by the proglacial rivers' shifting and redepositing gravels. Beneath the surface, they had profound and lasting influence on [[Geothermal energy|geothermal]] heat and the patterns of deep groundwater flow.{{cn|date=April 2026}}

===North America===

====Fraser and Pinedale glaciation (Rocky Mountains)==== [[File:Lake bonneville map.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|A map of [[List of prehistoric lakes|Pleistocene lakes]] in the Great Basin of western North America, showing the path of the [[Bonneville Flood]] along the [[Snake River]]]] {{Anchor|Pinedale Glaciation}} The '''Pinedale''' (central Rocky Mountains) and '''Fraser''' (Cordilleran ice sheet) glaciation was the last of the major glaciations to appear in the [[Rocky Mountains]] in the United States. The Pinedale lasted from around 30,000 to 10,000 years ago, and was at its greatest extent between 23,500 and 21,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite web |title=Brief geologic history |publisher=Rocky Mountain National Park |url=http://www2.nature.nps.gov/geology/parks/romo/index.cfm#geology |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060515055845/http://www2.nature.nps.gov/geology/parks/romo/index.cfm#geology |archive-date=May 15, 2006 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> This glaciation was somewhat distinct from the main Wisconsin glaciation, as it was only loosely related to the giant continental ice sheets and was instead composed of mountain glaciers, merging to comprise the Cordilleran ice sheet.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ice Age Floods |publisher=U.S. National Park Service |url=https://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Glossary/Glaciers/IceSheets/description_ice_sheets.html |access-date=February 8, 2008 |archive-date=August 27, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090827004754/http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Glossary/Glaciers/IceSheets/description_ice_sheets.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Cordilleran ice sheet produced features such as [[glacial Lake Missoula]], which broke free from its ice dam, causing the massive [[Missoula Floods]]. [[USGS]] geologists estimate that the cycle of flooding and reformation of the lake lasted an average of 55 years and that the floods occurred about 40 times over the 2,000-year period starting 15,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Waitt, Richard B. Jr. |title=Case for periodic, colossal jökulhlaups from Pleistocene glacial Lake Missoula |journal=Geological Society of America Bulletin |volume=96 |pages=1271–86 |date=October 1985 |url=https://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Glossary/Glaciers/IceSheets/Waitt85GSA/abstract.html |doi=10.1130/0016-7606(1985)96<1271:CFPCJF>2.0.CO;2 |issue=10 |bibcode=1985GSAB...96.1271W |url-access=subscription |archive-date=May 13, 2009 |access-date=February 9, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090513201350/http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Glossary/Glaciers/IceSheets/Waitt85GSA/abstract.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Glacial lake outburst flood]]s such as these are not uncommon today in [[Iceland]] and other places.{{cn|date=April 2026}}

====Wisconsin glaciation====<!--note: "Wisconsin glaciation" and "Wisconsin Continental Ice Shelf" redirect here--> [[File:Laurentide ice sheet map.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Maximum extent of the [[Laurentide ice sheet|North American ice sheets]] during the Last Glacial Maximum c. 20,000 years ago]] The [[Wisconsin glaciation|Wisconsin glacial episode]] was the last major advance of [[continental glacier]]s in the North American Laurentide ice sheet. At the height of glaciation, the [[Bering land bridge]] potentially permitted migration of mammals, including people, to North America from [[Siberia]].{{cn|date=April 2026}}

It radically altered the geography of North America north of the [[Ohio River]]. At the height of the Wisconsin episode glaciation, ice covered most of Canada, the [[Upper Midwest]], and [[New England]], as well as parts of [[Montana]] and [[Washington (state)|Washington]]. On [[Kelleys Island]] in [[Lake Erie]] or in New York's [[Central Park]], the [[glacial striations|grooves]] left by these glaciers can be easily observed. In southwestern Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta, a [[Suture (geology)|suture zone]] between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets formed the [[Cypress Hills (Canada)|Cypress Hills]], which is the northernmost point in North America that remained south of the continental ice sheets.{{cn|date=April 2026}}

The [[Great Lakes]] are the result of glacial scour and pooling of meltwater at the rim of the receding ice. When the enormous mass of the continental ice sheet retreated, the Great Lakes began gradually moving south due to isostatic rebound of the north shore. [[Niagara Falls]] is also a product of the glaciation, as is the course of the Ohio River, which largely supplanted the prior [[Teays River]].{{cn|date=April 2026}}

With the assistance of several very broad glacial lakes, it released floods through the [[gorge]] of the [[Upper Mississippi River]], which in turn was formed during an earlier glacial period.{{cn|date=April 2026}}

In its retreat, the Wisconsin episode glaciation left [[terminal moraine]]s that form [[Long Island]], [[Block Island]], [[Cape Cod]], [[Nomans Land (Massachusetts)|Nomans Land]], [[Martha's Vineyard]], [[Nantucket]], [[Sable Island]], and the [[Oak Ridges Moraine]] in south-central Ontario, Canada. In Wisconsin itself, it left the [[Kettle Moraine]]. The [[drumlin]]s and [[esker]]s formed at its melting edge are landmarks of the lower [[Connecticut River Valley]].{{cn|date=April 2026}}

====Tahoe, Tenaya, and Tioga, Sierra Nevada==== In the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]], three stages of glacial maxima, sometimes incorrectly called [[ice ages]], were separated by warmer periods. These glacial maxima are called, from oldest to youngest, Tahoe, Tenaya, and Tioga.<ref>{{harvnb|Ehlers|Gibbard|2004 II|page=57}}</ref> The Tahoe reached its maximum extent perhaps about 70,000 years ago. Little is known about the Tenaya. The Tioga was the least severe and last of the Wisconsin episode. It began about 30,000 years ago, reached its greatest advance 21,000 years ago, and ended about 10,000 years ago.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

====Greenland glaciation==== In northwest Greenland, ice coverage attained a very early maximum in the LGP around 114,000. After this early maximum, ice coverage was similar to today until the end of the last glacial period. Towards the end, glaciers advanced once more before retreating to their present extent.<ref>Funder, Svend{{cite journal |title=Late Quaternary stratigraphy and glaciology in the Thule area, Northwest Greenland |journal=MoG Geoscience |volume=22 |page=63 |year=1990 |url=http://www.dpc.dk/sw3590.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070606220702/http://dpc.dk/sw3590.asp |archive-date=June 6, 2007 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> According to ice core data, the Greenland climate was dry during the LGP, with precipitation reaching perhaps only 20% of today's value.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Johnsen, Sigfus J. |title=A "deep" ice core from East Greenland |journal=MoG Geoscience |volume=29 |pages=22 |year=1992 |url=http://www.dpc.dk/sw3551.asp |display-authors=etal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070606220604/http://dpc.dk/sw3551.asp |archive-date=June 6, 2007 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

=== South America ===

====Mérida glaciation ([[Venezuelan Andes]])==== [[File:Merida Glaciation in Venezuelan Andes.png|upright=1.3|thumb|A map showing the extent of the glaciated area in [[Venezuelan Andes]] during the Mérida glaciation]] The name ''[[Mérida (state)|Mérida]]'' glaciation is proposed to designate the alpine glaciation that affected the central [[Cordillera de Mérida|Venezuelan Andes]] during the Late Pleistocene. Two main moraine levels have been recognized - one with an elevation of {{cvt|2600–2700|m|abbr=on}}, and another with an elevation of {{cvt|3000–3500|m|abbr=on}}. The snow line during the last glacial advance was lowered approximately {{cvt|1200|m|abbr=on}} below the present snow line, which is {{cvt|3700|m|abbr=on}}. The glaciated area in the [[Cordillera de Mérida]] was about {{cvt|600|km2|abbr=on}}; this included these high areas, from southwest to northeast: Páramo de Tamá, Páramo Batallón, Páramo Los Conejos, Páramo Piedras Blancas, and Teta de Niquitao.<ref name="researchgate.net">{{cite journal |last1=Sánchez Dávila |first1=Gabriel |date=2016 |title=La Sierra de Santo Domingo: "Biogeographic reconstructions for the Quaternary of a former snowy mountain range" |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339498574 |journal=[[ResearchGate]] |language=es |doi=10.13140/RG.2.2.21325.38886/1}}</ref><ref name="Schubert, Carlos 1998">{{cite web |author=Schubert, Carlos |title=Glaciers of Venezuela |year=1998 |work=US Geological Survey (USGS P 1386-I) |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1386i/venezuela/text.html}}</ref><ref name="Late Pleistocene glaciation of Pára">{{cite journal |author1=Schubert, C. |author2=Valastro, S. |title=Late Pleistocene glaciation of Páramo de La Culata, north-central Venezuelan Andes |journal=Geologische Rundschau |volume=63 |issue=2 |pages=516–538 |doi=10.1007/BF01820827 |year=1974|bibcode=1974GeoRu..63..516S |s2cid=129027718 }}</ref><ref name="Mahaney 199–211">{{cite journal |last=Mahaney|first= William C.|display-authors=etal|title=Evidence for a Younger Dryas glacial advance in the Andes of northwestern Venezuela |journal=Geomorphology |volume=96 |issue=1–2 |pages=199–211 |date=April 1, 2008 |doi=10.1016/j.geomorph.2007.08.002 |bibcode=2008Geomo..96..199M }}</ref><ref name="cprm.gov.br">{{cite web |author1=Maximiliano, B. |author2=Orlando, G. |author3=Juan, C. |author4=Ciro, S. |title=Glacial Quaternary geology of las Gonzales basin, páramo los conejos, Venezuelan andes |url=http://www.cprm.gov.br/33IGC/1349672.html}}</ref>

Around {{cvt|200|km2|abbr=on}} of the total glaciated area was in the [[Sierra Nevada de Mérida]] and [[Sierra de Santo Domingo]], and of that amount, the largest concentration, {{cvt|50|km2|abbr=on}}, was in the areas of [[Pico Bolívar]], [[Pico Humboldt]] [{{cvt|4942|m|abbr=on}}], and [[Pico Bonpland]] [{{cvt|4983|m|abbr=on}}]. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the moraines are older than 10,000&nbsp;BP, and probably older than 13,000&nbsp;BP. The lower moraine level probably corresponds to the main Wisconsin glacial advance. The upper level probably represents the last glacial advance (Late Wisconsin).<ref name="researchgate.net"/><ref name="Schubert, Carlos 1998"/><ref name="Late Pleistocene glaciation of Pára"/><ref name="Mahaney 199–211"/><ref name="cprm.gov.br"/>

====Llanquihue glaciation (Southern Andes)==== {{main|Llanquihue glaciation}} [[File:Magellanglaciacion.jpg|upright=1.3|thumb|A map showing the extent of the Patagonian ice sheet in the [[Strait of Magellan]] area during the LGP: Selected modern settlements are shown with yellow dots.]] [[File:Antarctica glacial hg.svg|thumb|Modelled maximum extent of the Antarctic ice sheet, 21,000 years before the present|upright=1.3]] The Llanquihue glaciation takes its name from [[Llanquihue Lake]] in [[Zona Sur|southern Chile]], which is a fan-shaped [[foothills|piedmont]] glacial lake. On the lake's western shores, large moraine systems occur, of which the innermost belong to the LGP. Llanquihue Lake's [[varve]]s are a node point in southern Chile's varve [[geochronology]]. During the last glacial maximum, the Patagonian ice sheet extended over the Andes from about 35°S to [[Tierra del Fuego]] at 55°S. The western part appears to have been very active, with wet basal conditions, while the eastern part was cold-based.<ref name="Trombotto Liaudat-2008"/>

Cryogenic features such as [[ice wedge]]s, [[patterned ground]], [[pingo]]s, [[rock glacier]]s, [[palsa]]s, soil [[cryoturbation]], and [[solifluction]] deposits developed in unglaciated extra-Andean Patagonia during the last glaciation, but not all these reported features have been verified.<ref name="Trombotto Liaudat-2008">{{cite book |last=Trombotto Liaudat |first=Darío |date=2008 |chapter=Geocryology of Southern South America |title=The Late Cenozoic of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego |url=https://archive.org/details/latecenozoicpata00raba |url-access=limited |editor-last=Rabassa |editor-first=J. |editor-link=Jorge Rabassa |pages=[https://archive.org/details/latecenozoicpata00raba/page/n263 255]–268 |publisher=Elsevier Science |isbn=978-0-444-52954-1}}</ref> The area west of Llanquihue Lake was ice-free during the last glacial maximum, and had sparsely distributed vegetation dominated by ''[[Nothofagus]]''. [[Valdivian temperate rain forest]] was reduced to scattered remnants on the western side of the Andes.<ref>{{cite web |author-last=Adams |author-first=Jonathan |title=South America during the last 150,000 years |url=http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/nercSOUTHAMERICA.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100130085619/http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/nercSOUTHAMERICA.html |archive-date=January 30, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

==See also== {| class="wikitable" |+ Historical names of the "four major" glacials in four regions ! Region ! Glacial 1 ! Glacial 2 ! Glacial 3 ! Glacial 4 |- | '''Alps''' | [[Gunz glaciation|Günz]] | [[Mindel glaciation|Mindel]] | [[Riss glaciation|Riss]] | '''[[Würm glaciation|Würm]]''' |- | '''North Europe''' | [[Eburonian]] | [[Elsterian]] | [[Saalian]] | '''[[Weichselian]]''' |- | '''British Isles''' | [[Beestonian stage|Beestonian]] | [[Anglian Stage|Anglian]] | [[Wolstonian Stage|Wolstonian]] | '''[[Devensian]]''' |- | '''Midwest U.S.''' | [[Pre-Illinoian|Nebraskan]] | [[Kansan glaciation|Kansan]] | [[Illinoian (stage)|Illinoian]] | '''[[Wisconsinian Glaciation|Wisconsinan]]''' |} *[[Glacial history of Minnesota]] *[[Glacial lake outburst flood]] *[[Glacial period]] *[[Penultimate Glacial Period]] *[[Pleistocene]], which includes: *[[Pleistocene megafauna]] *[[Plio-Pleistocene]] *[[Late Pleistocene extinctions]] *[[Quaternary glaciation]] *[[Sea level rise]] *[[Stone Age]] *[[Timeline of glaciation]] *[[Valparaiso Moraine]] {{clear}}

==Notes== {{notelist-ua}}

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading== {{refbegin|30em}} *{{cite book |author=Bowen, D.Q. |title=Quaternary geology: a stratigraphic framework for multidisciplinary work |publisher=Pergamon Press |location=Oxford UK |year=1978 |isbn=978-0-08-020409-3 }} *{{cite book |editor1-last=Ehlers |editor1-first=J. |editor2-last=Gibbard |editor2-first=P. L. |title=Quaternary Glaciations: Extent and Chronology 2: Part II North America |publisher=Elsevier |location=Amsterdam |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-444-51462-2 |ref={{harvid|Ehlers|Gibbard|2004 II}} |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2xpIEPH7RW4C}} *{{cite book |editor1-last=Ehlers |editor1-first=J. |editor2-last=Gibbard |editor2-first=P. L. |title=Quaternary Glaciations: Extent and Chronology 3: Part III: South America, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica |publisher=Elsevier |location=Amsterdam |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-444-51593-3 |ref={{harvid|Ehlers|Gibbard|2004 III}} |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2xpIEPH7RW4C}} *{{cite book |author1=Gillespie, A. R.|author3= Porter, S. C. |author2=Atwater, B. F. |title=The Quaternary Period in the United States |series=Developments in Quaternary Science |volume=1 |publisher=Elsevier |location=Amsterdam |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-444-51471-4 }} *{{cite book |author1=Harris, A. G. |author2=Tuttle, E. |author3=Tuttle, S. D. |title=Geology of National Parks |publisher=Kendall/Hunt |location=Iowa |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-7872-5353-0 |edition=5th}} *{{cite journal |author=Kuhle, M. |author-link=Matthias Kuhle |title=The Pleistocene Glaciation of Tibet and the Onset of Ice Ages – An Autocycle HypothesisGeoJournal |journal=GeoJournal |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=581–596 |year=1988 |doi=10.1007/BF00209444 |s2cid=129234912 }} *{{cite book |editor1=Mangerud, J. |editor2=Ehlers, J. |editor3=Gibbard, P. |title=Quaternary Glaciations : Extent and Chronology 1: Part I Europe |publisher=Elsevier |location=Amsterdam |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-444-51462-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mmPwAAAAMAAJ}} *{{cite journal |author1=Sibrava, V. |author2=Bowen, D.Q |author3=Richmond, G. M. |title=Quaternary Glaciations in the Northern Hemisphere |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=5 |pages=1–514 |year=1986 |doi=10.1016/S0277-3791(86)80002-6 |doi-broken-date=January 23, 2026 }} *{{cite book |author=Pielou, E. C. |title=After the Ice Age : The Return of Life to Glaciated North America |publisher=University Of Chicago Press |location=Chicago IL |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-226-66812-3 }} {{refend}}

==External links== *[[E. C. Pielou|Pielou, E. C.]] [http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/A/bo3697245.html After the Ice Age: The Return of Life to Glaciated North America] (University of Chicago Press: 1992) *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080203104337/http://www.nationalatlas.gov/articles/geology/a_glacial.html National Atlas of the USA: Wisconsin Glaciation in North America]: Present state of knowledge *{{cite journal |author1=Ray, N. |author2=Adams, J.M. |title=A GIS-based Vegetation Map of the World at the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000–15,000 BP) |journal=Internet Archaeology |volume=11 |doi=10.11141/ia.11.2 |year=2001 |issue=11 |url=http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/pubs/ray2001/ray_adams_2001.pdf}} <!--*[http://www.geo.unizh.ch/~chbenz/stateknowledge.html University of Zurich: Würmian Glaciation in the Alps]: Present state of knowledge. Dead link-->

{{Quaternary Footer}} {{Ice Ages}} {{Continental Glaciations}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Glacial Period}} [[Category:Last Glacial Period| ]] [[Category:Ice ages]] [[Category:Pleistocene]] [[Category:Glaciology of the United States]]