During the ice age that occurred in the Pennsylvanian and Permian, the southern portion of the supercontinent Pangea was at the south pole. The result was extensive glaciation of what is now Africa, South America, India, Antarctica, Australia, and the Arabian peninsula. Evidence of glaciers exists from North America, Australia, and Africa. Uplift of continental blocks Plate tectonics probably contributes to the development of long periods with many glaciations in a second, more subtle way. Plate movements sometimes cause uplift of large continental blocks.
Major uplift can cause profound changes in the global oceanic and atmospheric circulation patterns.
Changing circulation patterns cause climate change. Some scientists hypthesize that climatic changes cause by uplift are critical to the development of ice ages. The uplift of the Himalayas and the Tibetian Plateau probably contributed to the initiation of the current cool period. Similar tectonic uplift appears to have been involved in the three other long, ice age intervals. A general reduction in amount of CO2 in the atmosphere may contribute to the development of ice ages.