Definition

1. Noun:
   • A specific geological time period: Refers to the Pleistocene epoch, a period from about 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago, characterized by extensive ice sheets and the evolution of modern humans.
   • Any ice age period: Refers to any geological period during which large portions of the Earth's surface were covered by continental ice sheets.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Scientists study fossils from the glacial epoch to understand climate change.
  • During the last glacial epoch, sea levels were much lower than they are today.

Advanced Usage

• "the Glacial Epoch": Often capitalized when referring specifically to the Pleistocene epoch.
  • The megafauna of the Glacial Epoch, like mammoths, became extinct.

Variants and Related Words

• Ice age: A synonym for a glacial epoch.
• Glacial period: A subdivision within an ice age when ice cover is at its maximum extent.
• Interglacial: A warmer period between glacial advances within an ice age.

Synonyms

• Ice age
• Pleistocene epoch (for the specific recent period)

Related Phrases

• Glacial-interglacial cycle: The repeated fluctuation between cold glacial periods and warmer interglacial periods.
  • The Earth's climate has undergone many glacial-interglacial cycles.

Noun

1. from two million to 11 thousand years ago; extensive glaciation of the northern hemisphere; the time of human evolution
2. any period of time during which glaciers covered a large part of the earth's surface
   • the most recent ice age was during the Pleistocene