Glacial Inception and Disintegration During the Last Glaciation

• Published in: Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences
• Main Authors: Andrews, J. T., Barry, R. G.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Annual Reviews 1978
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/32003/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/32003/1/annurev.ea.06.050178.001225.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ea.06.050178.001225

The causes of the growth and collapse of the large Pleistocene ice sheets is a topic of intense scientific debate. The amount of new data and ideas has been prodigious during the last ten years. This review concentrates on the shifting patterns of glacial advance and shrinkage during the last Glaciation. We also examine reconstructions of conditions during the maximum of this Glaciation about 18,000 BP, and the mechanisms that might have caused the rapid collapse of many of the world's ice sheets between 18,000 and 8000 BP. Our paper focuses on the North Atlantic sector because it is there that the major Pleistocene ice sheets grew, developed, and retreated.