Thread: Ice age terminology

I'm a bit confused by terms "glacial" "glaciation" etc. and find some writers use them sloppily. For example one writer says glacial to mean glaciers existing, while another means the growth of glaciers. I read the last ice age "ended" 12,000 years ago, or began to end, or hasn't ended yet.

I think we are still in long ice age, with fluctuations like a warming that began maybe 12,000 years ago... which is just a blip in the greater... uh, glaciation?

What are the correct terms? Is "ice age" still useful and when may I use it?

I doubt the current condition is normal. Is anything? Are exposed continental shelves normal? Do some phases last longer, with relatively quick transitions? For example is glacial advance and retreat normal, so the ice front doesn't stabilize?

it all depends on context - if you use glacial to describe the properties of a glacier, or to refer to a major period of glaciation as opposed to interglacials, or to a period in geological time when large portions of the earth are glaciated, then that's 3 totally different concepts

the last 2 of the 3 could informally be described as "ice age", and hence it's possible to say that we're still living in an ice age, even though we're nowhere near maximum glaciation

Usage does seem to vary – does this amount to sloppiness or just lack of a universal definition? I think the last glaciation or ice age ended 11,500 years ago, and we are now in the Holocene which is an interglacial period. Some authors (e.g. Chris Stringer, Homo Britannicus) find it necessary to state the definitions they are using in their books.

Originally Posted by Bunbury

I think the last glaciation or ice age ended 11,500 years ago, and we are now in the Holocene which is an interglacial period.

Here glaciation (AKA ice age) means advance of ice, and interglacial means retreat of ice? In this case the recent glaciation (AKA ice age :? ) ended 11,500 years ago at the maximum extent...?

Before this thread, I read "ice age" to mean "relatively icy".

that can be one of the meanings - i.e. a geological period when both poles are iced over, in which case even interglacials are part of the glacial era

the other meaning, the one used by Bunbury, is to contrast extensive glaciation versus less extensive glaciation, in which case we're not living in a glacial era, but bound to re-enter one in the geological near-future