ice age
Extended glaciation period
An ice age is a prolonged period when global temperatures drop and ice sheets expand across large portions of Earth's surface.
The term often refers to any of several such periods in Earth's geological history, though popularly it means the most recent one, which ended about 10,000 years ago.
Figuratively, an ice age can describe any period of coldness or emotional distance: Relations between them entered an ice age after the argument. (Capitalized Ice Age may refer to the animated film franchise.)
Ancient glacial geological period
- HoloceneCurrent geological epoch
- QuaternaryLast 2.6 million years
- CenozoicPresent geological era
- PlioceneLate Neogene epoch
Miocene · geochronology · stratigraphy · interglacial · Milankovitch cycles · deep time · geological time · periodization
Slow-moving ice mass
- moraineGlacier-deposited debris pile
- drumlinStreamlined glacial hill
- tillRegister drawer for money
- crevasseDeep glacial fissure
cirque · firn · icecap · permafrost · outwash · esker · fjord · U-shaped valley
Extinct archaic human species
- Homo sapiensScientific name for humans
- cave paintingsPrehistoric artwork on stone
- hunter-gatherersSubsistence through wild resources
- PaleolithicEarliest archaeological era
Mesolithic · stone tools · Lascaux · Altamira · Cro-Magnon · land bridge · migration · shelter
Extinct elephant with curved tusks
- mastodonExtinct elephantine Pleistocene mammal
- saber-toothed catExtinct long-fanged felid
- woolly rhinocerosExtinct furry horned herbivore
- dire wolfExtinct large canine species
cave bear · glyptodon · extinction · tar pits · fossils · tusks · adaptation · migration
Study of prehistoric climates
- carbon datingIsotope-based age measurement
- oxygen isotopesNuclear variants of element eight
- fossil recordRemains documenting prehistoric life
- glaciologyStudy of ice masses
Losing thermal energy
- snowfallPrecipitation of frozen crystals
- albedoSurface reflection coefficient
- global coolingTheorized planetary temperature decrease
- precipitationAtmospheric water deposit
ocean currents · thermohaline · carbon dioxide · dust storms · polar vortex · climate modeling · feedback loops
Pleistocene
Ancient glacial geological period
- HoloceneCurrent geological epoch
- QuaternaryLast 2.6 million years
- CenozoicPresent geological era
Pliocene · Miocene · geochronology · stratigraphy · interglacial · Milankovitch cycles · deep time · geological time · periodization · chronology
glacier
Slow-moving ice mass
crevasse · cirque · firn · icecap · permafrost · outwash · esker · fjord · U-shaped valley · tundra
Neanderthal
Extinct archaic human species
- Homo sapiensScientific name for humans
- cave paintingsPrehistoric artwork on stone
- hunter-gatherersSubsistence through wild resources
Paleolithic · Mesolithic · stone tools · Lascaux · Altamira · Cro-Magnon · land bridge · migration · shelter · fur clothing
mammoth
Extinct elephant with curved tusks
- mastodonExtinct elephantine Pleistocene mammal
- saber-toothed catExtinct long-fanged felid
- woolly rhinocerosExtinct furry horned herbivore
dire wolf · cave bear · glyptodon · extinction · tar pits · fossils · tusks · adaptation · migration · La Brea
paleoclimatology
Study of prehistoric climates
- carbon datingIsotope-based age measurement
- oxygen isotopesNuclear variants of element eight
- fossil recordRemains documenting prehistoric life
glaciology · paleoecology · reconstruction · Vostok · paleontology
cooling
Losing thermal energy
- snowfallPrecipitation of frozen crystals
- albedoSurface reflection coefficient
- global coolingTheorized planetary temperature decrease
precipitation · ocean currents · thermohaline · carbon dioxide · dust storms · polar vortex · climate modeling · feedback loops
- climateclimate change, climate, weather, global warming, temperature
- earth scienceatmosphere, earthquake, geology, volcano, crust
- Ice Agemammoths, saber-tooth cat, mammoth, woolly mammoth, Pleistocene
- prehistorystone tools, Neolithic, caveman, cavemen, paleolithic
- historical erasMiddle Ages, Renaissance, Victorian era, Medieval, Tudor era
- natural history museumfossils, dinosaurs, specimens, taxidermy, gemstones
ice ageinterglacial
Epoch between major freezes
Cretaceous period · global warming · tropical climate · thaw