GEOG 2OC3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Pleistocene, Laurentide Ice Sheet, Ellipse
16 Jan 2019
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Pleistocene world map: global plate distribution was pretty stable. Ice sheets up to 3km in thickness covered canada and parts of europe on several occasions. Orbital eccentricity: earth does not orbit in perfect circle. The departure of the earth"s elliptical orbit from a circular shape. Axial precession: the slow wobble of the earth. The slow and continuous change in the orientation of. Caused by gravitational pull on the earth by the moon and the sun. Axial tilt: the angle of tilt between the earth"s rotational axis and orbital axis. The earth"s axial tilt is the reason we have seasons: currently at a tilt of 23. 5 deg. All of these factors together, dictate how insulation, or sun energy, the earth receives. This in turn influences the season length, average surface temperatures, and other adverse effects which impact glacial conditions. Glacial cycles: as global temperatures drop, this allowed large glaciers to form at poles for thousands of years.
