page_title: Last Glacial Period
section_title: Mérida glaciation (Venezuelan Andes)
hierarchical_section_title: Last Glacial Period / Named local glaciations / South America / Mérida glaciation (Venezuelan Andes)
caption_attribution_description: Español: Extensión aproximada de la Glaciación Mérida durante el Último Máximo Glaciar en Venezuela. English: Approximate extent of the Mérida Glaciation during the Last Glacial Maximum in Venezuela.
context_page_description: The Last Glacial Period occurred from the end of the Eemian to the end of the Younger Dryas, encompassing the period c. 115,000 – c. 11,700 years ago. This most recent glacial period is part of a larger pattern of glacial and interglacial periods known as the Quaternary glaciation extending from c. 2,588,000 years ago to present. The definition of the Quaternary as beginning 2.58 Ma is based on the formation of the Arctic ice cap. The Antarctic ice sheet began to form earlier, at about 34 Ma, in the mid-Cenozoic. The term Late Cenozoic Ice Age is used to include this early phase.
  During this last glacial period there were alternating episodes of glacier advance and retreat. Within the last glacial period the Last Glacial Maximum was approximately 22,000 years ago. While the general pattern of global cooling and glacier advance was similar, local differences in the development of glacier advance and retreat make it difficult to compare the details from continent to continent. Approximately 12,800 years ago, the Younger Dryas, the most recent glacial epoch, began, a coda to the preceding 100,000 year glacial period.
context_section_description: The name Mérida Glaciation is proposed to designate the alpine glaciation which affected the central Venezuelan Andes during the Late Pleistocene. Two main moraine levels have been recognized: one with an elevation of 2,600–2,700 m (8,500–8,900 ft), and another with an elevation of 3,000–3,500 m (9,800–11,500 ft). The snow line during the last glacial advance was lowered approximately 1,200 m (3,900 ft) below the present snow line, which is 3,700 m (12,100 ft). The glaciated area in the Cordillera de Mérida was approximately 600 km² (230 sq mi); this included the following high areas from southwest to northeast: Páramo de Tamá, Páramo Batallón, Páramo Los Conejos, Páramo Piedras Blancas, and Teta de Niquitao. Approximately 200 km² (77 sq mi) of the total glaciated area was in the Sierra Nevada de Mérida, and of that amount, the largest concentration, 50 km² (19 sq mi), was in the areas of Pico Bolívar, Pico Humboldt [4,942 m (16,214 ft)], and Pico Bonpland [4,983 m (16,348 ft)]. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the moraines are older than 10,000 BP, and probably older than 13,000 BP. The lower moraine level probably corresponds to the main Wisconsin glacial advance. The upper level probably represents the last glacial advance (Late Wisconsin).
caption: Map showing the extent of the glaciated area in Venezuelan Andes during the Mérida glaciation
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