This theory gained a footing only in the 1840s, when two researchers, Charpentier and Agassiz tried to explain the landscape forms of the Alps by using it and later it concerned the whole of Northern Europe. It is indeed surprising that this theory came to light almost at the same time as the thoughts of Darwin about the birth of animal species. Both these theories gained simultaneous attention in the society of the day.
In any case it has been thought that there have been several ice ages on the earth. It has even been said that such tropical and hot areas as The Sahara, Africa, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Australia, India, Madagascar and also South America (as has been presented for instance in the books "Jääkausi” (Ice age) / Björn Kurten and "Muuttuva maa" / Pentti Eskola) would have been covered with a large continental glacier, tens of millions years ago. The latest ice age is assumed to have started "just" about 500,000 years ago and come to an end 10,000 years ago. Then ice sheets were supposed to have covered at their widest point 55 million km2 and the thickness of the ice would have been at its best over 3 kilometres (about 3,3 yards).
Why have we to think about the ice age? Have we any reason to believe in it? Perhaps those marks, which have been interpreted as those of an ice age, have been caused by something other than an ice age? We will now ponder the enigma of the ice age.
http://koti.phnet.fi/petripaavola/Ha...e_ice_age.html