polyglacial

English

Etymology

poly- +‎ glacial

Adjective

polyglacial (comparative more polyglacial, superlative most polyglacial)

  1. Pertaining to multiple periods of glacial formation separated by warmer interglacial periods.
    • 2009, Vaclav Cilek, Earth System: History and Natural Variability, page 462:
      The polyglacial concept (that is, the existence of many glacial periods and climate cyclicity) became accepted.
    • 2012, H.-E. Reineck, ‎I. B. Singh, Depositional Sedimentary Environments:
      Our knowledge of Pleistocene glaciation has clearly shown that an ice age is not monoglacial, but polyglacial; i.e., during a single ice age several colder glacial [times] episodes alternate with warmer interglacial [times] episodes.
    • 2014, Jamie Woodward, The Ice Age: A Very Short Introduction, page 89:
      In the period leading up to World War One, there was much debate about whether the ice age involved a single phase of ice sheet growth and freezing climate (the monoglacial theory) or several phases of ice sheet build up and decay separated by warm interglacials (the polyglacial theory).
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