Glacial or glaciation (Q624)
Subject, term, tag: Glacial or glaciation
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Glacial or glaciation |
Subject, term, tag: Glacial or glaciation |
Statements
IPCC Glossary v1.5
1 reference
27 May 2026
A period characterized by the establishment of expanded ice sheets and glaciers, and associated with global mean sea level (GMSL) substantially lower than present; generally coincides with even-numbered marine isotope stages. Glacial intervals were interrupted by interglacial intervals. The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) is a specific interval within the most recent glaciation, when ice sheets were near their global maximum volume (Clark et al., 2009; Gowan et al., 2021) and GMSL was nearly at its lowest level (Lambeck et al., 2014; Yokoyama et al., 2018). Local or regional glacial maxima may be diachronous, for example ranging from about 29,000 years ago and 16,000 years ago. For purposes of global synthesis, IPCC AR6 adopts a practical chronostratigraphic definition of LGM of 23,000–19,000 years BP (before 1950; chronozone level 1 of Mix et al., 2001). For modelling purposes, LGM is defined by the model time step nearest to the centre of this interval, 21,000 years ago (Kageyama et al., 2017). (English)
IPCC Glossary v1.5
1 reference
27 May 2026