Pleistocene glaciation

Pleistocene glaciation was the repeated growth and retreat of continental ice sheets and mountain glaciers during the Pleistocene Epoch, driven by changing climate and orbital conditions.

Milankovitch cycles: Long-term variations in Earth’s orbit and axial orientation that alter the distribution of incoming sunlight. Changes in summer sunlight helped pace Pleistocene ice-sheet expansion and retreat.
Laurentide Ice Sheet: A vast Pleistocene ice sheet that covered much of Canada and extended into the northern United States. Its repeated advances shaped much of North America.
Pleistocene: The geological epoch from about 2.58 million to 11,700 years ago, marked by repeated glacial cycles. Pleistocene glaciation is the epoch’s defining pattern of recurring ice growth and retreat.
Sea level rise: An increase in the average height of the sea relative to the land. Glacial melting raised sea level after ice sheets stored water on land.
Dansgaard–Oeschger event: A rapid warming followed by gradual cooling, recorded repeatedly in Greenland ice cores during the last glacial period. These abrupt swings occurred within the broader glacial climate state.
Ice-albedo feedback: A climate feedback in which expanding bright ice reflects more sunlight, promoting further cooling and ice growth. Reflective ice amplified the cooling that accompanied glacial expansion.
Fennoscandian Ice Sheet: A Pleistocene ice sheet covering Scandinavia and parts of northern Europe. It was the principal European counterpart to North America’s Laurentide Ice Sheet.
Glacial period: A prolonged interval within an ice age when global temperatures and ice volume are relatively low and high, respectively. Each major Pleistocene advance occurred within a glacial period.
Isostatic rebound: The gradual uplift of land after the removal of a heavy ice sheet or other load. Formerly glaciated regions continue to rise as the crust responds to vanished ice.
Heinrich event: A North Atlantic episode marked by large iceberg discharges and distinctive layers of ice-rafted sediment. The events reveal instability in ice sheets and ocean circulation during glacial conditions.

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