Quaternary Dating Methods
Chapter One
Dating Methods and the Quaternary
Whatever withdraws us from the power of our senses; whatever makes the past, the distant or
the future, predominate over the present, advances us in the dignity of thinking beings.
Samuel Johnson
1.1 Introduction
The Quaternary is the most recent period of the geological record. Spanning the last
2.5 million years or so of geological time and including the Pleistocene and Holocene
epochs, it is often considered to be synonymous with the 'Ice Age'. Indeed, for much of
the Quaternary, the earth's land surface has been covered by greatly expanded ice sheets
and glaciers, and temperatures during these glacial periods were significantly lower than
those of the present. But the Quaternary has also seen episodes, albeit much shorter in
duration, of markedly warmer conditions, and in these interglacials the temperatures in
the mid- and high-latitude regions may have exceeded those of the present day. Indeed ... read full excerpt from Quaternary Dating Methods: An Introduction ebook
