Holocene

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/holocene

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the current geological epoch?Holocene, beginning approximately 11,700 years BP
2. What is the position in geological time?The current interglacial period within the Quaternary Period
3. What is the Holocene and when did it start?The Holocene is the current warm period of Earth, beginning about 11,700 years ago after the last big ice age.
4. Why did the ice sheets melt at the start of the Holocene?A big global warming event made the ice melt, raising sea levels and reshaping coastlines.

Interglacial Period: A warmer interval of time between glacial periods within a larger ice age.
Chronostratigraphy: The branch of stratigraphy concerned with the age of rock strata and the time-rock units they represent.
Paleoclimate: The study of past climates, often using proxy data from ice cores, sediments, and fossils.
Anthropocene: A proposed new geological epoch characterized by significant human impact on Earth's systems.