By the end of this chapter I will be able to: zz zz
describe the main glacial processes;
identify features of the landscape formed by glaciation from an Ordnance Survey (OS) map, photographs and diagrams;
zz zz
zz identify the dominant processes at play in the formation of each feature;
describe the formation of one feature of both glacial erosion and glacial deposition using Irish and/or international examples;
describe the formation of one feature associated with fluvioglaciation using Irish and/or international examples.
A-Z Pleistocene Glaciation
The most recent geological time period, the Quaternary Period, began about 2.6 million years ago and continues to the present day. It is divided into two epochs: the Pleistocene and the Holocene (Fig. 10.1). A fall in global temperatures over 2.5 million years ago marked the start of the last great ice age, the Pleistocene. During this epoch, there were temperature variations; cold periods called glacials were followed by warmer periods called interglacials, when rising temperatures caused ice to melt and sea levels to rise above what they are today. When the Pleistocene Epoch ended about 12,000 years ago, the world entered an interglacial period called the Holocene Epoch.
Fig. 10.1 European ice cover during the last glacial period of the Pleistocene Epoch.
Key Ice Exposed seabed Sea Land Mountains 147
Epoch: A subdivision of a geological period, ranging from 1 million to 10 million years.
European ice cover during the last glacial period of the Pleistocene Epoch. Syllabus Link: 1.5 KEYWORDS
