Prelude
The Quaternary Period forms the latest 2.58 million years of Earth's history. The single most dominant Quaternary event is the Ice Age that is currently ongoing, and has included dozens of glacial and interglacial cycles. During this time, saber-tooth cats, giant terror birds, huge mammoths and mastodons, and other creatures roamed the land that was fast becoming more recognizable relative to today. Our own species appeared only in the very latest part of the Ice Age.
|
|
|
|
Figure 15-1. The Quaternary is the age of ice. The edge of the continental ice sheet in Greenland (left), and a familiar cold-adapted mammal at the San Diego Zoo (right). |
|
What Will You Do Today?
|
|
Explore the geology of the Quaternary Period of the Cenozoic Era |
A. The Quaternary Period - Review the Quaternary portion of geologic time
B. Quaternary Geology & Life Forms - Learn more about Quaternary geology and life forms
C. Yellowstone National Park Geology - Explore the Quaternary volcanism of the Yellowstone National Park area
D. Geology of the San Francisco Mountain Area - Decipher the geology of the largest of the volcanic mountains of northern Arizona