Quaternary

The Quaternary period, only 1.64 million years old, began when the Earth’s orbit altered, probably due to a gravitational anomaly, making it more elliptical. This, is one of the causes for the ice ages. There have been many ice ages during the Quaternary, although the most recent one is also the most famous. They tend to last around 100,000 years each, separated by a warm interglacial period lasting around 10,000 years. Excuse the pun, but the next sentence may be slightly chilling. The interglacial in which we live is already over 10,000 years old. Does this mean that we are now over due for an ice age? Perhaps by this time next millennium there may be ice sheets advancing as far south as New York and London as they did in the last ice age. However, we might just be saved by global warming.

Click here to see our Quaternary fossils.

←Tertiary period

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