interglacial
/ˌɪn.təˈɡleɪ.si.əl/ (bre, ipa) · /ˌɪn.t̬ɚˈɡleɪ.ʃəl/ (ame, ipa) · /ˌin-tər-ˈglā-shəl/ (ame, mw)
interglacial — adjective
- interglacialpositive
- more interglacialcomparative
- most interglacialsuperlative
1. describing a span of milder climate that falls between two ice ages, when glacie
describing a span of milder climate that falls between two ice ages, when glaciers retreat and global temperatures rise.
Ife's geology professor explained how interglacial conditions allowed forests to spread across northern Europe.
attributive: interglacial + conditions
The current interglacial period began about 11,700 years ago and supports nearly all human civilization.
collocation: interglacial period
Padma analyzed pollen samples to date an interglacial phase that lasted roughly fifteen thousand years.
Sea levels rose sharply during the last interglacial stage, drowning many low-lying coastal plains.
Climate scientists at the Stockholm conference debated whether modern warming will shorten this interglacial epoch.
- interstadial
shorter, milder warm phase WITHIN a single ice age; not a full interglacial
- postglacial
specifically after a glacial period; one-directional, while 'interglacial' implies a warm span flanked by cold ones
- glacial
describing the cold ice-age periods that bracket an interglacial
文法句型
interglacial + noun (period / climate / phase / stage)
用法筆記
Almost always used attributively before a time-span noun (period, phase, stage, epoch, climate). Rare in everyday speech; appears mainly in geology, paleoclimate, and earth-science writing.
常見錯誤
interglacial — noun
- interglacialsingular
- interglacialsplural
1. a long span of milder climate sitting between two ice ages, usually lasting ten
a long span of milder climate sitting between two ice ages, usually lasting ten thousand to thirty thousand years.
Maeve's research team is mapping how plants migrated north during the previous interglacial.
countable: the previous interglacial
Ice cores from Greenland record at least eight interglacials over the past eight hundred thousand years.
plural use: count of separate warm spans
Hamza wrote his thesis on sea-level rise during the last interglacial, known as the Eemian.
The current interglacial, called the Holocene, has lasted nearly twelve thousand years so far.
Talia compared fossil pollen from two interglacials to see which plant species returned earliest.
- interglacial period
fuller phrase; the noun 'interglacial' is essentially shorthand for this
- warm period
general term; less precise — does not imply being flanked by ice ages
文法句型
the/an + interglacial
during/within + interglacial
用法筆記
Always countable. Often paired with a specific name (the Holocene, the Eemian) or a positional qualifier (the last / previous / current interglacial). Distinguished from the adjective sense by appearing as a standalone noun phrase, not before another noun.