Pleistocene

The Pleistocene (/ˈplaɪstəˌsiːn, -stoʊ-/ PLY-stə-seen, -⁠stoh-;[5][6]

Pleistocene
often referred to colloquially as the Ice Age) is the geological epoch
that lasted from c. 2.58 million to 11,700 years ago, spanning the
Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change
was finally confirmed in 2009 by the International Union of
Geological Sciences, the cutoff of the Pleistocene and the preceding
Pliocene was regarded as being 1.806 million years Before Present
(BP). Publications from earlier years may use either definition of the
period. The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with the end of the Map of the sea levels during the Last Glacial
last glacial period and also with the end of the Paleolithic age used Maximum (glaciers not shown)
in archaeology. The name is a combination of Ancient Greek Chronology
πλεῖστος (pleîstos), meaning "most", and καινός (kainós; Latinized
0— ← Holocene
as cænus), meaning "new". – "Late"

−0.2 —
At the end of the preceding Pliocene, the previously isolated North
–
and South American continents were joined by the Isthmus of −0.4 —
Panama, causing a faunal interchange between the two regions and Chibanian
–
changing ocean circulation patterns, with the onset of glaciation in −0.6 —
the Northern Hemisphere occurring around 2.7 million years ago. –
During the Early Pleistocene (2.58–0.8 Ma), archaic humans of the −0.8 —
genus Homo originated in Africa and spread throughout Afro- –
QP
Eurasia. The end of the Early Pleistocene is marked by the Mid- −1 — u l
–C a e
Pleistocene Transition, with the cyclicity of glacial cycles changing i
−1.2 — e t s
from 41,000-year cycles to asymmetric 100,000-year cycles, making n e
– r t Calabrian
the climate variation more extreme. The Late Pleistocene witnessed o
−1.4 — z n o
the spread of modern humans outside of Africa as well as the c
–o a e
extinction of all other human species. Humans also spread to the r
−1.6 — i y n
Australian continent and the Americas for the first time, co-incident –
c e
with the extinction of most large-bodied animals in these regions. −1.8 —
–
The aridification and cooling trends of the preceding Neogene were −2 —
continued in the Pleistocene. The climate was strongly variable –
depending on the glacial cycle, with the sea levels being up to 120 −2.2 — Gelasian
metres (390 ft) lower than present at peak glaciation, allowing the –
connection of Asia and North America via Beringia and the −2.4 —
covering of most of northern North America by the Laurentide Ice –
−2.6 —
Sheet. N Pliocene

Etymology Subdivision of the Quaternary according

to the ICS, as of 2021.[1][2]
Charles Lyell introduced the term "Pleistocene" in 1839 to describe Vertical axis scale: millions of years ago.
strata in Sicily that had at least 70% of their molluscan fauna still
Etymology
living today. This distinguished it from the older Pliocene Epoch,
which Lyell had originally thought to be the youngest fossil rock Name formality Formal
layer. He constructed the name "Pleistocene" ("most new" or Usage information
"newest") from the Greek πλεῖστος (pleīstos, "most") and καινός Celestial body Earth
(kainós (Latinized as cænus), "new").[8][9][10] This contrasts with Regional usage Global (ICS)
the immediately preceding Pliocene ("newer", from πλείων (pleíōn,
Definition
"more") and kainós) and the immediately subsequent Holocene Chronological unit Epoch
("wholly new" or "entirely new", from ὅλος (hólos, "whole") and Stratigraphic unit Series
kainós) epoch, which extends to the present time.
Time span formality Formal
Lower boundary
Dating definition
Base of magnetic
polarity chronozone C2r
The Pleistocene has been dated from 2.580 million (±0.005) to
(Matuyama).
11,650 years BP[11] with the end date expressed in radiocarbon
Extinction of the
years as 10,000 carbon-14 years BP.[12] It covers most of the latest
haptophytes Discoaster
period of repeated glaciation, up to and including the Younger Dryas
pentaradiatus and
cold spell. The end of the Younger Dryas has been dated to about
Discoaster surculus
9640 BCE (11,654 calendar years BP). The end of the Younger
Dryas is the official start of the current Holocene Epoch. Although it Lower boundary Monte San Nicola Section,
is considered an epoch, the Holocene is not significantly different GSSP Gela, Sicily, Italy
from previous interglacial intervals within the Pleistocene.[13] In the 37.1469°N 14.2035°E
ICS timescale, the Pleistocene is divided into four stages or ages, the Lower GSSP ratified 2009 (as base of
Gelasian, Calabrian, Chibanian (previously the unofficial "Middle Quaternary and
Pleistocene"), and Upper Pleistocene (unofficially the Pleistocene)[3]
"Tarantian").[14][15][note 1] In addition to these international Upper boundary End of the Younger Dryas
subdivisions, various regional subdivisions are often used. definition stadial

In 2009 the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) Upper boundary NGRIP2 ice core,
confirmed a change in time period for the Pleistocene, changing the GSSP Greenland
start date from 1.806 to 2.588 million years BP, and accepted the 75.1000°N 42.3200°W
base of the Gelasian as the base of the Pleistocene, namely the base Upper GSSP ratified 2008 (as base of
of the Monte San Nicola GSSP.[17] The start date has now been Holocene)[4]
rounded down to 2.580 million years BP.[11] The
IUGS has yet to approve a type section, Global
Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP),
for the upper Pleistocene/Holocene boundary (i.e.
the upper boundary). The proposed section is the
North Greenland Ice Core Project ice core 75° 06'
N 42° 18' W.[18] The lower boundary of the
Pleistocene Series is formally defined Evolution of temperature in the Post-Glacial period at the very end of the

magnetostratigraphically as the base of the Pleistocene, according to Greenland ice cores[7]

Matuyama (C2r) chronozone, isotopic stage 103.

Above this point there are notable extinctions of the calcareous
nannofossils: Discoaster pentaradiatus and Discoaster
surculus.[19][20] The Pleistocene covers the recent period of
repeated glaciations.

The name Plio-Pleistocene has, in the past, been used to mean the
last ice age. Formerly, the boundary between the two epochs was
drawn at the time when the foraminiferal species Hyalinea baltica
first appeared in the marine section at La Castella, Calabria,
Italy.[21] However, the revised definition of the Quaternary, by
pushing back the start date of the Pleistocene to 2.58 Ma, results in
the inclusion of all the recent repeated glaciations within the
Pleistocene.
Temperature rise marking the end of the Pleistocene, as
derived from Antarctic ice core data.

Hominin timeline
Modern humans
0 ← Earliest clothes
 0— ← Earliest clothes
Radiocarbon dating is considered to be Homo sapiens
Denisovans Earliest rock art
inaccurate beyond around 50,000 years ago. –P
H. heidelbergensis
Neanderthals
l
Marine isotope stages (MIS) derived from
−1 — e H. erectus
Oxygen isotopes are often used for giving i
approximate dates. s (H. antecessor) P
– t (H. ergaster)
a
o r ← Earliest fire / cooking
(Au. sediba)
c a
← Earliest language
Deposits −2 — e n
← Dispersal beyond Africa
n H. habilis t
Pleistocene non-marine sediments are found e (H. rudolfensis) h
– r
primarily in fluvial deposits, lakebeds, slope (Au. garhi)
o ← Earliest sign of
and loess deposits as well as in the large −3 — p Homo
Australopithecus u
amounts of material moved about by glaciers. P (Au. africanus) s ← Earliest stone tools
Less common are cave deposits, travertines – l (Au. afarensis)
i
and volcanic deposits (lavas, ashes). o (Au. anamensis)
Pleistocene marine deposits are found −4 — c
e
primarily in shallow marine basins mostly n Ardipithecus H
← Earliest
sign of
(but with important exceptions) in areas –e Australopithecus
(Ar. ramidus)
o
within a few tens of kilometres of the modern
shoreline. In a few geologically active areas −5 — Hominini m
such as the Southern California coast,
– i
Pleistocene marine deposits may be found at Earliest sign of
elevations of several hundred metres. (Ar. kadabba) n ← Ardipithecus
−6 — Orrorin
i
(O. praegens)
Paleogeography and – (O. tugenensis) d
climate M
−7 — i s ← Earliest bipedal
Sahelanthropus
o
Graecopithecus
–c
e Oreopithecus
n
−8 — e Chororapithecus
Sivapithecus
– ← Chimpanzee split
Ouranopithecus
−9 — (Ou. turkae) ← Gorilla split
(Ou. macedoniensis)

– Samburupithecus
Nakalipithecus
−10 — ← Earlier apes
(million years ago)

The maximum extent of glacial ice in
the north polar area during the
Pleistocene Period
markers.[23]
The modern continents were essentially at their present positions during the
Pleistocene, the plates upon which they sit probably having moved no more than
100 km (62 mi) relative to each other since the beginning of the period. In glacial
periods, the sea level would drop by up to 120 m (390 ft) lower than today[22] during
peak glaciation, exposing large areas of the present continental shelf as dry land.
According to Mark Lynas (through collected data), the Pleistocene's overall climate
could be characterised as a continuous El Niño with trade winds in the south Pacific
weakening or heading east, warm air rising near Peru, warm water spreading from
the west Pacific and the Indian Ocean to the east Pacific, and other El Niño

Glacial features
Pleistocene climate was marked by repeated glacial cycles in which continental glaciers pushed to the 40th parallel in some
places. It is estimated that, at maximum glacial extent, 30% of the Earth's surface was covered by ice. In addition, a zone of
permafrost stretched southward from the edge of the glacial sheet, a few hundred kilometres in North America, and several
hundred in Eurasia. The mean annual temperature at the edge of the ice was −6 °C (21 °F); at the edge of the permafrost,
0 °C (32 °F).

Each glacial advance tied up huge volumes of water in continental ice sheets 1,500 to 3,000 metres (4,900–9,800 ft) thick,
resulting in temporary sea-level drops of 100 metres (300 ft) or more over the entire surface of the Earth. During interglacial
times, such as at present, drowned coastlines were common, mitigated by isostatic or other emergent motion of some regions.

The effects of glaciation were global. Antarctica was ice-bound throughout the Pleistocene as well as the preceding Pliocene.
The Andes were covered in the south by the Patagonian ice cap. There were glaciers in New Zealand and Tasmania. The
current decaying glaciers of Mount Kenya, Mount Kilimanjaro, and the Ruwenzori Range in east and central Africa were
larger. Glaciers existed in the mountains of Ethiopia and to the west in the Atlas Mountains.

In the northern hemisphere, many glaciers fused into one. The Cordilleran Ice Sheet covered the North American northwest;
the east was covered by the Laurentide. The Fenno-Scandian ice sheet rested on northern Europe, including much of Great
Britain; the Alpine ice sheet on the Alps. Scattered domes stretched across Siberia and the Arctic shelf. The northern seas
were ice-covered.

South of the ice sheets large lakes accumulated because outlets were blocked and the cooler air slowed evaporation. When
the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated, north-central North America was completely covered by Lake Agassiz. Over a hundred
basins, now dry or nearly so, were overflowing in the North American west. Lake Bonneville, for example, stood where
Great Salt Lake now does. In Eurasia, large lakes developed as a result of the runoff from the glaciers. Rivers were larger,
had a more copious flow, and were braided. African lakes were fuller, apparently from decreased evaporation. Deserts, on the
other hand, were drier and more extensive. Rainfall was lower because of the decreases in oceanic and other evaporation.

It has been estimated that during the Pleistocene, the East Antarctic Ice Sheet thinned by at least 500 meters, and that thinning
since the Last Glacial Maximum is less than 50 meters and probably started after ca 14 ka.[24]

Major events
During the 2.5 million years of the Pleistocene, numerous cold phases called
glacials (Quaternary ice age), or significant advances of continental ice sheets, in
Europe and North America, occurred at intervals of approximately 40,000 to
100,000 years. The long glacial periods were separated by more temperate and
shorter interglacials which lasted about 10,000–15,000 years. The last cold
episode of the last glacial period ended about 10,000 years ago.[25] Over 11
major glacial events have been identified, as well as many minor glacial
events.[26] A major glacial event is a general glacial excursion, termed a
"glacial." Glacials are separated by "interglacials". During a glacial, the glacier
Ice ages as reflected in atmospheric CO2,
experiences minor advances and retreats. The minor excursion is a "stadial";
stored in the bubbles from glacial ice of
times between stadials are "interstadials". Antarctica

These events are defined differently in different regions of the glacial range,
which have their own glacial history depending on latitude, terrain and climate. There is a general correspondence between
glacials in different regions. Investigators often interchange the names if the glacial geology of a region is in the process of
being defined. However, it is generally incorrect to apply the name of a glacial in one region to another.

For most of the 20th century, only a few regions had been studied and the names were relatively few. Today the geologists of
different nations are taking more of an interest in Pleistocene glaciology. As a consequence, the number of names is
expanding rapidly and will continue to expand. Many of the advances and stadials remain unnamed. Also, the terrestrial
evidence for some of them has been erased or obscured by larger ones, but evidence remains from the study of cyclical
climate changes.
The glacials in the following tables show historical usages, are a simplification of a much more complex cycle of variation in
climate and terrain, and are generally no longer used. These names have been abandoned in favour of numeric data because
many of the correlations were found to be either inexact or incorrect and more than four major glacials have been recognised
since the historical terminology was established.[26][27][28]

Historical names of the "four major" glacials in four regions.

Region Glacial 1 Glacial 2 Glacial 3 Glacial 4

Alps Günz Mindel Riss Würm

North Europe Eburonian Elsterian Saalian Weichselian

British Isles Beestonian Anglian Wolstonian Devensian

Midwest U.S. Nebraskan Kansan Illinoian Wisconsinan

Historical names of interglacials.

Region Interglacial 1 Interglacial 2 Interglacial 3

Alps Günz-Mindel Mindel-Riss Riss-Würm

North Europe Waalian Holsteinian Eemian

British Isles Cromerian Hoxnian Ipswichian

Midwest U.S. Aftonian Yarmouthian Sangamonian

Corresponding to the terms glacial and interglacial, the terms pluvial and interpluvial are in use (Latin: pluvia, rain). A pluvial
is a warmer period of increased rainfall; an interpluvial is of decreased rainfall. Formerly a pluvial was thought to correspond
to a glacial in regions not iced, and in some cases it does. Rainfall is cyclical also. Pluvials and interpluvials are widespread.

There is no systematic correspondence between pluvials to glacials, however. Moreover, regional pluvials do not correspond
to each other globally. For example, some have used the term "Riss pluvial" in Egyptian contexts. Any coincidence is an
accident of regional factors. Only a few of the names for pluvials in restricted regions have been stratigraphically defined.

Palaeocycles
The sum of transient factors acting at the Earth's surface is cyclical: climate, ocean currents and other movements, wind
currents, temperature, etc. The waveform response comes from the underlying cyclical motions of the planet, which
eventually drag all the transients into harmony with them. The repeated glaciations of the Pleistocene were caused by the
same factors.

The Mid-Pleistocene Transition, approximately one million years ago, saw a change from low-amplitude glacial cycles with a
dominant periodicity of 41,000 years to asymmetric high-amplitude cycles dominated by a periodicity of 100,000 years.[29]

However, a 2020 study concluded that ice age terminations might have been influenced by obliquity since the Mid-
Pleistocene Transition, which caused stronger summers in the Northern Hemisphere.[30]

Milankovitch cycles
Glaciation in the Pleistocene was a series of glacials and interglacials, stadials and interstadials, mirroring periodic climate
changes. The main factor at work in climate cycling is now believed to be Milankovitch cycles. These are periodic variations
in regional and planetary solar radiation reaching the Earth caused by several repeating changes in the Earth's motion. The
effects of Milankovitch cycles were enhanced by various positive feedbacks related to increases in atmospheric carbon
dioxide concentrations and Earth's albedo.[31]
Milankovitch cycles cannot be the sole factor responsible for the variations in climate since they explain neither the long-term
cooling trend over the Plio-Pleistocene nor the millennial variations in the Greenland Ice Cores known as Dansgaard-
Oeschger events and Heinrich events. Milankovitch pacing seems to best explain glaciation events with periodicity of
100,000, 40,000, and 20,000 years. Such a pattern seems to fit the information on climate change found in oxygen isotope
cores.

Oxygen isotope ratio cycles

In oxygen isotope ratio analysis, variations in the ratio of 18 O to 16 O (two isotopes of oxygen) by mass (measured by a mass
spectrometer) present in the calcite of oceanic core samples is used as a diagnostic of ancient ocean temperature change and
therefore of climate change. Cold oceans are richer in 18 O, which is included in the tests of the microorganisms (foraminifera)
contributing the calcite.

A more recent version of the sampling process makes use of modern glacial ice cores. Although less rich in 18 O than
seawater, the snow that fell on the glacier year by year nevertheless contained 18 O and 16 O in a ratio that depended on the
mean annual temperature.

Temperature and climate change are cyclical when plotted on a graph of temperature versus time. Temperature coordinates
are given in the form of a deviation from today's annual mean temperature, taken as zero. This sort of graph is based on
another isotope ratio versus time. Ratios are converted to a percentage difference from the ratio found in standard mean ocean
water (SMOW).

The graph in either form appears as a waveform with overtones. One half of a period is a Marine isotopic stage (MIS). It
indicates a glacial (below zero) or an interglacial (above zero). Overtones are stadials or interstadials.

According to this evidence, Earth experienced 102 MIS stages beginning at about 2.588 Ma BP in the Early Pleistocene
Gelasian. Early Pleistocene stages were shallow and frequent. The latest were the most intense and most widely spaced.

By convention, stages are numbered from the Holocene, which is MIS1. Glacials receive an even number and interglacials
receive an odd number. The first major glacial was MIS2-4 at about 85–11 ka BP. The largest glacials were 2, 6, 12, and 16.
The warmest interglacials were 1, 5, 9 and 11. For matching of MIS numbers to named stages, see under the articles for those
names.

Fauna
Both marine and continental faunas were essentially modern but with many more large land mammals such as Mammoths,
Mastodons, Diprotodons, Smilodons, tigers, lions, Aurochs, short-faced bears, giant sloths, species within Gigantopithecus
and others. Isolated landmasses such as Australia, Madagascar, New Zealand and islands in the Pacific saw the evolution of
large birds and even reptiles such as the Elephant bird, moa, Haast's eagle, Quinkana, Megalania and Meiolania.

The severe climatic changes during the Ice Age had major impacts on the fauna and flora. With each advance of the ice, large
areas of the continents became depopulated, and plants and animals retreating southwards in front of the advancing glacier
faced tremendous stress. The most severe stress resulted from drastic climatic changes, reduced living space, and curtailed
food supply. A major extinction event of large mammals (megafauna), which included mammoths, mastodons, saber-toothed
cats, glyptodons, the woolly rhinoceros, various giraffids, such as the Sivatherium; ground sloths, Irish elk, cave lions, cave
bears, Gomphotheres, American lions, dire wolves, and short-faced bears, began late in the Pleistocene and continued into the
Holocene. Neanderthals also became extinct during this period. At the end of the last ice age, cold-blooded animals, smaller
mammals like wood mice, migratory birds, and swifter animals like whitetail deer had replaced the megafauna and migrated
north. Late Pleistocene bighorn sheep were more slender and had longer legs than their descendants today. Scientists believe
that the change in predator fauna after the late Pleistocene extinctions resulted in a change of body shape as the species
adapted for increased power rather than speed.[32]

The extinctions hardly affected Africa but were especially severe in North America where native horses and camels were
wiped out.

Asian land mammal ages (ALMA) include Zhoukoudianian, Nihewanian, and Yushean.
 European land mammal ages (ELMA) include the
Villafranchian, Galerian, and Aurelian
North American land mammal ages (NALMA) include
Blancan (4.75–1.8), Irvingtonian (1.8–0.24) and
Rancholabrean (0.24–0.01) in millions of years. The
Blancan extends significantly back into the Pliocene.
South American land mammal ages (SALMA) include
Uquian (2.5–1.5), Ensenadan (1.5–0.3) and Lujanian
(0.3–0.01) in millions of years. The Uquian previously
extended significantly back into the Pliocene, although
the new definition places it entirely within the
Pleistocene.
Various schemes for subdividing the Pleistocene
In July 2018, a team of Russian scientists in collaboration with
Princeton University announced that they had brought two female
nematodes frozen in permafrost, from around 42,000 years ago, back to life. The two nematodes, at the time, were the oldest
confirmed living animals on the planet.[33][34]

Pleistocene of Northern Spain, Pleistocene of South America,

including woolly mammoth, cave including Megatherium and two
lions eating a reindeer, horses, and Glyptodon
woolly rhinoceros

Humans
The evolution of anatomically modern humans took place during the Pleistocene.[35][36] At the beginning of the Pleistocene
Paranthropus species were still present, as well as early human ancestors, but during the lower Palaeolithic they disappeared,
and the only hominin species found in fossilic records is Homo erectus for much of the Pleistocene. Acheulean lithics appear
along with Homo erectus, some 1.8 million years ago, replacing the more primitive Oldowan industry used by A. garhi and
by the earliest species of Homo. The Middle Paleolithic saw more varied speciation within Homo, including the appearance
of Homo sapiens about 300,000 years ago.[37]

According to mitochondrial timing techniques, modern humans migrated from Africa after the Riss glaciation in the Middle
Palaeolithic during the Eemian Stage, spreading all over the ice-free world during the late Pleistocene.[38][39][40] A 2005
study posits that humans in this migration interbred with archaic human forms already outside of Africa by the late
Pleistocene, incorporating archaic human genetic material into the modern human gene pool.[41]

Hominin species during Pleistocene

See also
Earth sciences
portal
Evolutionary
biology portal
Geology portal
Paleontology
portal

Climate change
Pleistocene megafauna
Pleistocene Park
Quaternary glaciation

Explanatory notes
1. The Upper Pleistocene is a subseries/subepoch rather than a stage/age but, in 2009, the IUGS decided that
it will be replaced with a stage/age (currently unofficially/informally named the Tarantian).[16]

References
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2. Mike Walker; et al. (December 2018). "Formal ratification of the subdivision of the Holocene Series/Epoch
(Quaternary System/Period)" (http://quaternary.stratigraphy.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Walker-et-al.-20
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tirée du grec pleiston, plus, et kainos, récent." (However, at the same time that it became necessary to
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External links
Late Pleistocene environments of the southern high plains (http://digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/ref/collectio
n/sit/id/23), 1975, edited by Wendorf and Hester.
Pleistocene Microfossils: 50+ images of Foraminifera (http://www.foraminifera.eu/querydb.php?age=Pleistoc
ene&aktion=suche)
Stepanchuk V.N., Sapozhnykov I.V. Nature and man in the pleistocene of Ukraine. 2010 (https://www.acade
mia.edu/13755024/%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B0_%D1%96_%D0%B
B%D1%8E%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%B2_%D0%BF%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B9%D
1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%86%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%96_%D0%A3%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%
D1%97%D0%BD%D0%B8_Nature_and_man_in_the_pleistocene_of_Ukraine_._2010)
Human Timeline (Interactive) (http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-evolution-timeline-interactive) –
Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History (August 2016).
Pleistocene Park: Conservation Project to Restore a Pleistocene Ecology and Protect Permafrost Soils in
Northern Siberia (https://pleistocenepark.ru)

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