The Quaternary period

In previous posts we have analyzed how it works geological time and reviewed the most important events that took place in the Mesozoic Era and in the Precambrian Aeon. Today we return to the Cenozoic Era in which we are going to analyze what happens in the Quaternary periodThis is the last period of the Cenozoic Era and encompasses two of the most "modern" epochs: the Pleistocene and the Holocene.

Do you want to know the most important events that occurred in this period? Keep reading because we tell you everything.

The arrival of ice and man

After the passage of millions of years, we get closer to what has been "today". In the Quaternary, which started 2,59 million years ago, is the period in which we are today. The Quaternary not only includes the Pleistocene and the Holocene, but for consistency when making discoveries about the changes that occurred on the earth, the Gelasian age could be included. During this age there were very significant changes in life on the planet, the climate and the oceans due to the episodes of ice age.

The two epochs of the Quaternary are the Pleistocene and the Holocene. The Pleistocene is the longest and includes centuries and centuries of glaciers. It is known as The ice age, a concept that is closely related to the glacialism. Going to a more recent time we have the Holocene, considered as the post-glacial part and that is what we have today.

When talking about the Pleistocene, many people talk about "The age of man" since the genus Homo began to evolve in this period. It is already when in the Holocene, the human being can develop life organized in social groups and which is called civilization.

Pleistocene characteristics

We begin by describing the Quaternary with its first epoch. 2,59 million years ago gives way to the beginning of the Pleistocene that ends only 12.000 years ago. During this time the ice spread in the form of glaciers until occupy more than a quarter of the earth's surfaceThe ice reached areas never before reached. When we talk about glaciation or an ice age, we generally think that the entire world is covered in ice, including the oceans. This isn't the case. Almost 25% of the Earth's surface covered in ice is incredibly abnormal.

Due to the vast amount of ice around the world, sea levels dropped by up to 100 meters, and life on the planet had to adapt to the new environmental conditions or disappear. In areas where there was no ice, almost all the dominant flora and fauna were the same as in the previous period (Pliocene), which leads us to review the major extinctions in history.

There were big glacial systems scattered across the coldest and most icy areas. The first was a glacier in Scandinavia that stretched south and east across northern Germany and western Russia. It reached as far as the British Isles, so you can imagine how large that glacier was. You can also find out more about the polar ice cap and its importance in the Quaternary period.

On the other hand, we also find another huge glacier system located throughout most of Siberia. Another glacial system spread from Canada to the United States and many of these glacial systems were fundamental in the geology of the PleistoceneAll of these glacial formations, following their dynamics and formation, gave rise to the glacial formations we can observe today in all these places.

Glaciations, flora and fauna

As you can guess, the Arctic and Antarctic regions were also covered with ice, as were most of the mountains around the planet. The snow level dropped to levels that have never been observed today. As I mentioned before, all the actions that glaciers and their subsequent melting entail can be seen even today in many parts of the world.

Not only was there one glaciation during the Pleistocene, but there were six. Between each of them there were periods where the weather was somewhat warmer and the ice receded again. For now, we are considered to be in one of those glacial "rest" periods.

As for the flora and fauna that had to adapt to completely frozen areas, we find mammoths, reindeer, giant deer, and polar bears. The vegetation in this area was composed entirely of lichens and mosses. It was completely similar to the current tundra, which has been one of the regions most affected by the climate change. In the interglacial stages, having higher temperatures and less surface covered by ice, they were able to live horses, felines with large tusks and rhinos. For a more in-depth study of the fauna of that time, I recommend reading about the Pleistocene fauna and how it influenced the development of human beings.

A few other species of fauna adapted well to climatic changes in order to survive longer. We talk about bison, elk, fox, and wildcat. In the colder parts of North America, species such as camel, yak, llama, tapir and horse. By the time the Pleistocene ended, large species of mammals such as the mastodon, the famous saber-toothed tiger, and the giant deer had already become extinct from the entire planet.

Human and Holocene evolution

Now we talk about human evolution in which we have the Paleolithic in the Pleistocene, where the homo habilis began to gather and hunt. Later, Homo erectus He made some more sophisticated weapons and hunted in groups. Homo neanderthalensis it was a cold-adapted species that appeared 230.000 years ago.

We now describe the most recent epoch of the Quaternary: the Holocene. This is where we are today. It began 12.000 years ago, and its temperature change initiated a period of global thawing.This melting caused the sea level to rise by thirty meters, which has been an interesting phenomenon in the history of the . It is said that this interglacial epoch may end in a new ice age.

In these 12.000 years, extinctions have continued and have been accelerated even more in the last 100 years by human presence and the development of technology. On Earth there have been 5 great extinctions. For this reason, the massacre that it is having today is called the sixth extinction.

The nomadic life of the human being ended with the development of agriculture and livestock. Fishing also greatly favored human development. Finally, the Holocene is usually studied until the invention of writing, where what we call History begins to be studied.

I hope this post has let you know more about the last period of the Earth.