Difference between revisions of "Ice age"
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Mainstream geologists and Young Earth creationists are at odds over whether any ice ages have actually occurred. | Mainstream geologists and Young Earth creationists are at odds over whether any ice ages have actually occurred. | ||
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[[Category:Earth science]] | [[Category:Earth science]] | ||
Revision as of 17:08, April 17, 2007
An Ice Age is a period where the earth's average temperature drops, and is characterized by glaciers extending into what we think of as temperate zones, and a drop in sea level due to water being tied up in the polar ice caps and glaciers.
Many signs of the southernward glaciations are visible today, for example, the heavily eroded and rounded mountains of the northern Appalachian chain, and the deposits of glacial debris ("moraines") that form Cape Cod and Long Island.
The lowered sea levels have been very important in mankind's migrations around the planet, as they often exposed land bridges where now all we see is ocean. The best example of this is the Bering Strait, between North America and Asia, which was probably navigable by land during the last ice age (or two), allowing people (and animals) to easily cross and populate the American continents.
A similar mechanism is postulated for the populating of the British Isles by early Europeans.
Mainstream geologists and Young Earth creationists are at odds over whether any ice ages have actually occurred.
