earth science

Würm glaciation

Würm glaciation is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Würm glaciation rather than just read about it. In short: The Würm glaciation, or Würm stage (German: Würm-Kaltzeit or Würm-Glazial, also Würmeiszeit or Würmzeit; cf. ice age), commonly referred 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.

Key takeaways

Würm glaciation belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Würm glaciation to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Würm glaciation from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Würm glaciation, or Würm stage (German: Würm-Kaltzeit or Würm-Glazial, also Würmeiszeit or Würmzeit; cf. ice age), commonly referred 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.

Corresponding glaciations worldwide

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.

Temporal classification

In the Gelasian, i.e. at the beginning of the Quaternary period around 2.6 million years ago, an ice age began in the northern hemisphere which continues today. Characteristic of such ice ages is the glaciation of the polar caps. After the Gelasian followed the Early, Middle and Late Pleistocene with a succession of several warm and cold periods. The latter are often called "ice ages" or "glacials", the former term often being confused with the overarching ice age period. The warm periods are called "interglacials". Glaciers repeatedly advanced from the Alps to the northern molasse foreland and left moraines and meltwater deposits behind that are up to several hundred metres thick. Today, the Pleistocene epoch in the Alps is divided into several phases: the Biber, Danube, Günz, Haslach, Mindel, Riss and Würm glaciations. The greatest ice advance into the Alpine Foreland took place during the Riss glaciation, cf. the Saale glaciation in northern Europe. The most recent foreland glaciation, the Würm, did not have such an extensive and solid glacial front. Nevertheless, its terminal moraines, which indicate the perimeter of the ice sheet, extend as a single tongue well into the foreland. Whilst they were hemmed in by the high mountainsides of the Alps, once these rivers of ice entered the foreland they often combined to form huge glaciers. The moraines and gravel beds formed in the Würm glaciation are the best preserved, because since then there have been no more similar geological processes. Traces of the ice sheet have not been scoured out by later glaciers or overlaid by their sediments. This allows a more precise dating for the Würm glaciation than for earlier ice ages. The Würm glaciation was preceded by the Eemian, which began about 126,000 years ago and lasted 115,000 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.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Würm glaciation

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Würm glaciation claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Würm glaciation before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Würm glaciation ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Würm glaciation

In research: Würm glaciation appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Würm glaciation in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Würm glaciation is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Geology of the Alps, Holocene, Ice ages, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Würm glaciation outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Würm glaciation in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Würm glaciation means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Würm glaciation out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Würm glaciation in simple terms?

Why does Würm glaciation matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Würm glaciation?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Würm glaciation.