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How long did interglacial periods usually last during the Pleistocene?
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Pleistocene Epoch
Ice sheets during the Wisconsin glacial episode penetrated deep into North America.
During the Pleistocene Epoch, the Earth experienced a series of alternating glacial and interglacial stages. According to oxygen isotope records from ocean sediments, interglacial periods typically lasted between 10,000 and 15,000 years.1
These interglacial stages represent intervals when the Earth's climate was as warm as it is today, occurring between the colder glacial stages when ice sheets were much more extensive. While these cycles were driven by orbital variations, the Earth system has been in constant flux, and most of the past 500,000 years were spent in intermediate glacial states rather than in the extremes of either full glacial or interglacial conditions.21