The last glacial period is sometimes colloquially referred to as
the "last ice age". Calling it this is incorrect though, because an
ice age is a longer
period of cold temperature in which ice sheets cover large parts of
the Earth, such as Antarctica. On the other hand,
glacial periods are
really just colder phases within an ice age that
separate interglacial periods.
So? The end of the last glacial period is not the end of the
last ice age! The end of the last glacial period was about 12,000
years before present (BP), while the end of the last ice age may
not yet have come. Why? Little evidence points to a stop of the
glacial-interglacial cycle of the last million years! That said,
the last glacial period is the best-known part of the current ice
age.
The glaciations that formed during this glacial
period covered many areas, mainly on the Northern Hemisphere and to
a lesser extent on the Southern Hemisphere. They didn’t
extend as far south as Florida though.
Scientists use the geologic time scale to measure and
systematically divide time periods in Earth’s history.
Geologic time
is divided into eons, then further into eras, then epochs, then
ages. The most recent glaciations
retreated at the end of the Pleistocene epoch. The
Pleistocene is an epoch that spans the world's recent period of
repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the
Greek πλειστος
(pleistos "most") and καινος
(kainos "new"). It is divided into four ages:
- Tarantian (Upper Pleistocene) – began ca. 126,000 years
ago
- Ionian (Middle Pleistocene) – ca. 781,000 - 126,000 years
ago
- Calabrian (Lower Pleistocene) – ~1.8 Ma—781,000
years ago
- Gelasian (Lowe Pleistocene) - 2.588 Ma (million years ago) and
1.806 Ma
This Earthcache will teach you a little about this geological
time period in what is now Venice, FL.
Abbreviations & symbols to remember
- ~ – approximately
- ca. – circa
- Ma – million years ago
- BP – before present
Answer these questions correctly to claim this cache.
- The marker further explains the Pleistocene epoch. Why does the
name pleistocene
(πλειστος +
καινος) make sense?
- According to the plaque, when did the Pleistocene take place,
and how long did it last?
- The mammal described here was probably how large? And how do
scientists know this?
- In which age of the Pleistocene did the mammoth live?
- Fossils of what other organisms were found in this place?
- Three of these animals are depicted in the frieze. What are
they?
- Did these animals die due to glaciation? Why or why not?
- This photo shows an accomplished paleontologist of the early
1900s, once the Smithsonian's Assistant Curator of Mammalian
Fossils. He explored Florida in the mid 1920s in search of fossils
of Pleistocene humans. What was his name?
