glacial period
1
6.6
- noun
- /ˈɡleɪʃəl ˈpɪərɪəd/
- Specialized
:
período glacial
- During the last glacial period, large areas of North America were covered by ice sheets.
Examples
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When I was studying at uni, it was said that the glacial periods were preceded by warmer temperatures.
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We are slowly sliding into the next glacial period, relentlessly but very, very slowly.
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You should also understand that a slide into a glacial period generally happens rather slowly.
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Future generations will have lots of time to worry about coming glacial periods.
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Large, abrupt climate changes do not occur only during glacial periods, though they are most common then.
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There was much less rainforest and more savanna during the cold glacial periods.
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During the glacial period, the 4-km-thick Laurentide ice sheet greatly depressed the underlying land.
Academic text (2002) -
From ETH in Zurich, this interesting essay on the last glacial period has some interesting points to ponder.
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Equally, every glacial period ended (i.e., warming began rapidly) when CO2 was at its lowest level.
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Although no model has yet reproduced the detailed climatic variability that occurs during a glacial period, the general match between observational data and modeling strongly suggests that the envisaged mechanisms are plausible.
Academic text (2002)
Synonyms
24
3.4
A long time when much of Earth is covered by ice and very cold
3
7.9
Large areas covered by very thick ice that change the land
A long period when large areas of Earth are covered by thick ice
How Cold
24
3.4
- Specialized
1
6.6
- Specialized
2
8.8
- Specialized
3
7.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'glacial' (relating to glaciers) modifies 'period' (a span of time), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it denotes a time characterized by glaciers. This adjective+noun combination follows a regular, cross-linguistically common pattern, making the phrase transparent to learners.
Etymology
The noun glacial period comes from glacial (from 'glacier', a very large moving mass of ice) and period (a length of time). It paints the image of a long time when huge sheets of ice covered large parts of the Earth, so it means 'a long cold time when ice covered much of the Earth'.