Pleistocene Epoch

Introduction
Stratigraphy
- Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary
- Chronology and correlation
- Marine oxygen isotope record
- Loess-paleosol records
- Glacial records
- Ice-core records
Pleistocene events and environments
- Glaciation
- Periglacial environments
- Lacustrine environments
- Fluvial environments
- Coastal environments and sea-level changes
- Eolian activity
- Tectonic and isostatic movements
Pleistocene fauna and flora
- Evolutionary changes
- Migration of plants and animals
- Megafaunal extinctions
Cause of the climatic changes and glaciations

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Map showing the extent of the Laurentide, Cordilleran, and Greenland ice sheets during the Wisconsin glaciation, roughly 100,000 to 11,000 years ago. The Laurentide Ice Sheet covers most of present-day Canada and parts of the northern United States in light blue, the Cordilleran Ice Sheet covers the Pacific Northwest in teal, and the Greenland Ice Sheet is marked in purple. Modern international and state or provincial boundaries are outlined for reference.

A man with a surprised expression gestures toward two photos: one of a preserved wolf head above him and one of a preserved woolly rhinoceros below, with blue arrows pointing to each.

Will cloning bring the woolly mammoth back to life?

$Map of the Pacific Ocean showing the age of selected regions of the seafloor, with color-coded bands representing different geological ages from Cretaceous (136 million years ago) to Pleistocene (0 million years ago). The map highlights mid-ocean ridges, deep ocean trenches, and fracture zones, with arrows indicating the direction of crustal plate spreading. Major trenches such as the Mariana, Peru-Chile, and Aleutian Trenches are labeled.$

A detailed geologic time scale chart displaying Earth's history from the Hadean Eon over 4.5 billion years ago to the present, organized by eons, eras, periods, epochs, and ages with color-coded columns and corresponding dates in millions of years.

A geologic time scale chart showing the Quaternary period of the Cenozoic era, divided into the Holocene and Pleistocene epochs with corresponding stages and ages, alongside a timeline in millions of years ago.

A geologic time scale chart highlighting the Quaternary period, showing the Pleistocene, Holocene, and proposed Anthropocene epochs, with divisions by age and corresponding millions of years ago.

At a Glance

Pleistocene Epoch summary

Related Questions

How could climate and vegetation changes have contributed to Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions?
How could ocean circulation have affected Pleistocene climate changes?
How did Pleistocene glaciers help create many of the lakes in northern North America and Scandinavia?
How did changes in Earth’s orbit influence Pleistocene climate cycles?
How did changes in snow cover amplify cooling during Pleistocene ice ages?
How did changing climates shift plant communities during deglaciation?
How did glaciers reshape landscapes in the Great Plains and Central Lowland of North America?
How did lower atmospheric carbon dioxide levels reinforce cooling during glacial periods?
How did lower sea levels expose the Bering land bridge?
How did ocean oxygen isotope records provide evidence for Pleistocene climate cycles?
How did rising sea levels after the last glacial period change Pleistocene coastal environments?
How did the Gelasian Stage become the first stage of the Pleistocene Epoch?
How did the International Union of Geological Sciences settle the date for the beginning of the Quaternary Period?
How does orbital eccentricity affect the amount of solar radiation Earth receives?
How does the overkill hypothesis explain the extinction of mammoths and other large animals?
How does the tilt of Earth’s axis affect Pleistocene glaciations?
How far did the Scandinavian Ice Sheet extend during major glacial periods?
How is the Gauss-Matuyama geomagnetic reversal connected to the beginning of the Pleistocene?
How long did interglacial periods usually last during the Pleistocene?
How much lower was sea level during the Last Glacial Maximum?
How much of Earth’s land area was covered by glaciers during major Pleistocene glaciations?
How were Neanderthals related to Homo heidelbergensis and Homo sapiens?
How were woolly mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses adapted to cold tundra environments?
What archaeological evidence shows that Pleistocene humans hunted large animals?
What are lateral moraines and end moraines?
What evidence do ice cores provide about carbon dioxide and methane during glacial cycles?
When did Homo erectus spread from Africa into Asia?
When did sea level reach its highest point before the modern level during the last interglacial period?
When did the Last Glacial Maximum occur?
When did the Pleistocene Epoch begin and end?
Where and when did Homo antecessor live?
Where did the Cordilleran Ice Sheet form during the Pleistocene?
Which geologic epoch came before the Pleistocene Epoch?
Which geologic epoch followed the Pleistocene Epoch?
Which large mammals became extinct near the end of the Pleistocene in North America?
Which large mammals lived during the Pleistocene Epoch?
Why did geologists debate the starting date of the Pleistocene Epoch?
Why did some Pleistocene mammals grow to very large sizes?
Why do high oxygen-18 levels in ocean sediments indicate glacial periods?
Why is summer sunlight at high northern latitudes important for the growth of ice sheets?
Why is the 100,000-year climate cycle difficult to explain using eccentricity alone?
Why is the Pleistocene Epoch often called the Great Ice Age?
Why is the cause of late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions still debated?
Why was the Bering land bridge important for the migration of animals and humans?
Who were the Denisovans?
What notable discovery was made about Denisovan DNA in 2025?

Science Earth Science, Geologic Time & Fossils Fossils & Geologic Time

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External Websites

Social Sci LibreTexts - Pleistocene Epoch
University of California Museum of Paleontology - The Pleistocene
Wheaton College OpenPress - Molecular Ecology and Evolution: An Introduction - The Pleistocene Epoch
National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Evolution of Homo in the Middle and Late Pleistocene
Live Science - Pleistocene epoch: The last ice age

Pleistocene Epoch

geochronology

Also known as: newer Pliocene Epoch

Written by

W. Hilton Johnson

Emeritus Professor of Geology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

W. Hilton Johnson

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Oct. 17, 2026 •History

Pleistocene Epoch, earlier and major of the two epochs that constitute the Quaternary Period of Earth’s history, an epoch during which a succession of glacial and interglacial climatic cycles occurred. The base of the Gelasian Stage (2,588,000 to 1,800,000 years ago) marks the beginning of Pleistocene, which is also the base of the Quarternary Period. It is coincident with the bottom of a marly layer resting atop a sapropel called MPRS 250 on the southern...

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