ice age
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- Geosciences LibreTexts - Ice Age Glaciations
- World History Encyclopedia - Ice Age
- USGS - The Great Ice Age
- Illlinois State Museum - Exploring the Ice Age Midwest - Ice Ages
- University of Wisconsin-Madison - Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey - Ice Age geology
- Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers - Ice Ages and geological timescales
- NeoK12 - Educational Videos and Games for School Kids - Ice Age
- Also called:
- glacial age
- Related Topics:
- Little Ice Age
- Heinrich event
- last glacial maximum
- glacial stage
- global cooling
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ice age, any geologic period during which thick ice sheets cover vast areas of land. Such periods of large-scale glaciation may last several million years and drastically reshape surface features of entire continents. A number of major ice ages have occurred throughout Earth history. The earliest known took place during Precambrian time dating back more than 570 million years. The most recent periods of widespread glaciation occurred during the Pleistocene Epoch (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago).
A lesser, recent glacial stage called the Little Ice Age began in the 16th century and advanced and receded intermittently over three centuries in Europe and many other regions. Its maximum development was reached about 1750, at which time glaciers were more widespread on Earth than at any time since the last major ice age ended about 11,700 years ago.
