glacial epoch

[ gley-shuhl ep-uhkor, especially British, ee-pok ]

noun

1. Also called glacial period, the geologically recent Pleistocene Epoch, during which much of the Northern Hemisphere was covered by great ice sheets.
2. any one of the Permian, Carboniferous, Cambrian, or Precambrian glaciations.

Word History and Origins

Origin of glacial epoch¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

Sometime during the last glacial epoch, when hunter-gatherers were still living in caves, the Neanderthal tool-making mentality gave way to the Cro-Magnon urge to make images.

From Literature

The Salmon is a tributary of the mighty Columbia River, which would have been the first large waterway encountered by people who made it south of the ice sheets during the last glacial epoch.

From Nature

If we suppose that the temperature of the sun at the present time is still increasing, or at least has been increasing until now, the glacial epoch can be easily accounted for.

From Project Gutenberg

Extraglacial deposits, made by the waters of any glacial epoch if they flowed and deposited beyond the farthest limit of the ice.

From Project Gutenberg

This is believed to be connected with the glacial epoch and the augmentation of the streams during those periods when the ice was melting away.

From Project Gutenberg