2021: Creating a Lexicon of Future

Q is for Quaternary

The Quaternary (/kwəˈtɜːrnəri, ˈkwɒtərˌnɛri/ kwə-TUR-nə-ree, KWOT-ər-nerr-ee) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.588 ± 0.005 million years ago to the present. The Quaternary Period is divided into two epochs: the Pleistocene (2.588 million years ago to 11.7 thousand years ago) and the Holocene (11.7 thousand years ago to today, although a third epoch, the Anthropocene, has been proposed but is not yet officially recognized by the ICS). The informal term “Late Quaternary” refers to the past 0.5–1.0 million years. The Quaternary Period is typically defined by the cyclic growth and decay of continental ice sheets related to the Milankovitch cycles and the associated climate and environmental changes that they caused. ~ Wikipedia, Quaternary

The Quaternary Period — This is Us

The Quaternary Period began with an ice age about 1.8 million years ago. Throughout the period glaciers have been present, sometimes more and sometimes less. It is also the time of giant mammals, humans, Saber toothed cats and other fierce predators all share the stage as the earth takes its present form.

It is sometimes called the Age of Humans because this is the only period humans have been around.