Concept information
Preferred term
Würm
Definition
- The Würm glaciation or Würm stage (German: Würm-Kaltzeit or Würm-Glazial, colloquially often also Würmeiszeit or Würmzeit), usually referred to in the literature as the Würm (often spelled "Wurm"), was the last glacial period in the Alpine region. It is the youngest of the major glaciations of the region that extended beyond the Alps themselves. Like most of the other ice ages of the Pleistocene epoch, it is named after a river, in this case the Würm in Bavaria, a tributary of the Amper. The Würm ice age can be dated to about 115,000 to 11,700 years ago. Sources differ about the dates, depending on whether the long transition phases between the glacials and interglacials (warmer periods) are allocated to one or other of those periods. The average annual temperatures during the Würm ice age in the Alpine Foreland were below −3 °C (today +7 °C). That has been determined from changes in the vegetation (pollen analysis), as well as differences in the facies. The corresponding ice age in North and Central Europe is known as the Weichselian glaciation, after the German name for the Vistula river. Despite the global changes in climate that were responsible for the major glaciations cycles, the dating of the Alpine ice sheet advances does not correlate automatically with the farthest extent of the Scandinavian ice sheet. In North America the corresponding "last ice age" is called the Wisconsin glaciation. The Würm glaciation was preceded by the Eemian, which began about 126,000 years ago and lasted 11,000 years. Then there was a significant slowdown, characterized by occasional fluctuations of several degrees in average temperatures. The various advances and retreats of glaciers associated with these temperature fluctuations, are called "stadials" (periods of relatively low temperatures) and "interstadials" (relatively higher temperatures). The Würm Glacial ended around 11,700 years ago with the beginning of the Holocene. The cold period was followed by another warming which continues today and during which the glaciers are retreating. However, even in the Holocene there have been variations in temperature and ice advances, the last one in the modern era being the so-called Little Ice Age. The Holocene is considered an "interglacial" of a larger ice age, since the poles and the high mountain areas are still glaciated. (Adapted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C3%BCrm_glaciation)
Broader concept
Entry terms
- Wurm
- Würm glaciation
- Würmian glaciation
- Würmian Stage
- Würm stade
- Würm Stage
In other languages
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French
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glaciation de Würm
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glaciation du Würm
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glaciation Würm
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glaciation würmienne
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stade Würm
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stade würmien
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Wurm
URI
http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/QX8-KMK9F9T1-4
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