Science Project help?

Question

I have no idea what the quaternary period is. i need the climate and how the earth looked like. the animals. major geologic events. Please answer!

i sometimes dont understand the info. they put so much college and highschool words.

Answer 1

and of course you are too lazy to google "quaternary"

Answer 2

The term Quaternary ("fourth") was proposed by Jules Desnoyers in 1829 to address sediments of France's Seine Basin that seemed clearly to be younger than Tertiary Period rocks. The Quaternary Period follows the Tertiary Period and extends to the present. The Quaternary roughly covers the time span of recent glaciations, including the last glacial retreat. An occasional alternative usage places the start of the Quaternary at the onset of North Pole glaciation approximately 3 million years ago and includes portions of the upper Pliocene. Some people do not recognize the Quaternary and consider it an informal term included in the Neogene, as can be seen from the 2003 edition of the International Stratigraphic Chart, published by the International Commission on Stratigraphy.

The 1.8–1.6 million years of the Quaternary represents the time during which recognizable humans existed. Over this short a time period, the total amount of continental drift was less than 100 km, which is largely irrelevant to paleontology. Nonetheless, the geological record is preserved in greater detail than that for earlier periods, and is most relatable to the maps of today, revealing in the second half of the twentieth century its own series of extraordinary landform changes. The major geographical changes during this time period included emergence of the Strait of Bosphorus and Skagerrak during glacial epochs, which respectively turned the Black Sea and Baltic Sea into fresh water, followed by their flooding by rising sea level; the periodic filling of the English Channel, forming a land bridge between Britain and Europe; the periodic closing of the Bering Strait, forming the land bridge between Asia and North America; and the periodic flash flooding of Scablands of the American Northwest by glacial water. The Great Lakes and other major lakes of Canada, and Hudson's Bay, are also just the results of the last cycle, and are temporary. Following every other ice age within the Quaternary, there was a different pattern of lakes and bays.

The climate was one of periodic glaciations with continental glaciers moving as far from the poles as 40 degrees latitude. Few major new animals evolved, again presumably because of the short—in geologic terms—duration of the period. There was a major extinction of large mammals in Northern areas at the end of the Pleistocene Epoch.

Many forms such as saber-toothed cats, mammoths, mastodons, glyptodonts, etc., became extinct worldwide. Others, including horses, camels and cheetahs became extinct in North America.

Answer 3

I have given you excellent links to open and read it will help you to do the rest of the work..
Try learning to speed read it helps you to absorb and retain better.

Quaternary period from Fact Monster:
Scroll down
http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/sci/A0840739.html
QUATERNARY PERIOD - Prehistoric Animals
2-0 Million Years Ago
The link below after you open has the names and pictures of the animals
Quaternary period was the second and last period of the Cenozoic era. Quaternary period is divided into two epochs: Pleistocene and Holocene. Mammoths roamed the lands. Cattle, deer, and of course, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and Homo sapiens.
http://www.prehistory.com/timeline/quatern.htm
Quaternary period (kwətûr'nərē) , younger of the two geologic periods of the Cenozoic era of geologic time
http://www.answers.com/topic/quaternary-1


RE:Nova Scotia
The Quaternary Period can be divided into two time frames. The Early Quaternary is known as the Pleistocene Epoch and stretches from 3 mya until 10,000 years ago. From 10,000 years ago to the present is considered Recent.
http://museum.gov.ns.ca/fossils/geol/quat.htm
Animation
http://museum.gov.ns.ca/fossils/geol/globe.htm

Answer 4

The website for the animal pics is http://www.prehistory.com/timeline/quatern.htm

Other Info
http://www.fossils-facts-and-finds.com/quaternary_period.html

You could also try wikipedia