This book of contributed papers reconstructs events following the major Paleozoic glaciation, using as analog events during the last 18,000 years. The detailed analysis of present environments aids in understanding what triggered the ancient deglaciations; conversely, the study of the ancient geological record helps to identify factors that influence global environmental change. The syntheses and analyses of Quaternary and older glacial products and events foster a better understanding of those periods in which rapid climatic and environmental changes occurred, and they constitute a ready source of information for analyzing other ancient geological records or constructing models for possible future changes.

I. Peter Martini's profile page

I. Peter Martini, Professor of Geology, University of Guelph, Ontario.

"This multi-authored volume contains 19 chapters organized into five parts that center around three major ice ages: the Quaternary, late Paleozoic, and late Precambrian. . .Most of the 23 contributors are internationally recognized experts in their respective fields; hence, the treatments are up-to-date with the literature, and the reader can depend upon a reasonably accurate representation of the essential debates in each discipline. . . .[the book] is a very good graduate and research reference and should be in all geology libraries." --GSA Today

"This collection of review papers brings together information on glacial and post-glacial landforms and successions from around the world. It is full of stimulating ideas about the causes of glacial periods and their after-effects. . . .An excellent synthesis of Quaternary and older glacial products, which I recommend to anyone seeking a better understanding of large-scale glacial episodes and their broad environmental and climatic effects." --Journal of Geoscience Education

"This book--tightly written, well referenced, and with clear diagrams--extends our understanding of glacial climates of the geologic past. The papers summarize the state of the art. Rather than being a generalized text that describes late stage glacial events from an introductory point of view, a snapshot in time is presented of our current understanding. One of the most interesting aspects is the emphasis the editor places on the occurrence of peats through geologic time and their association with glacial periods and the questions that this raises when one is faced with this type of sediment." --The Leading Edge

"Data from the best known glacial periods, the Quaternary and Carboniferous-Permian, are compared to determine which variables provide the most sensitive signals for predicting past and pending change. Roughly half the papers are highly focused accounts outlining the distribution of glacial and postglacial features of specific regions. . .Other papers, however, are principle-oriented; discussions about past megafloods, temperate paleosols and peats, glaciogenic deposits, and tectonism provide a background for either non-specialists concerned with general issues or for researchers working with glacial deposits produced during other times in Earth's history."--Choice

"Martini asserts that the purpose of his book is to compare the changes that ended the Quaternary glaciation and from which the earth is still recovering, to ancient Ice Ages for which the long recovery to a wholly non-glacial world is documented in the geological record. From this assessment 'it may be possible to formulate various scenarios for future climatic and environmental change and hence, ultimately, for the fate of humankind' (p. 3). Twenty-three scientists, among them the pre-eminent scholars in their disciplines, present 19 chapters organized in five parts: four devoted to description of the periods of glaciation named in the title, and one to cold-region soils and organic deposits, including peat and coal. . . . [T]he work . . . should be required reading by students of glacial environmental change."--Ecoscience