Concept and global context of the glacial landforms from the Last Glacial Maximum

The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) represents the period of most extensive global ice cover in the Last Glacial Cycle (LGC). Most definitions place the LGM in the interval 29–19 ka and the concept and definition of the event have been explored in several ways, including using the marine oxygen isotope record, records of sea-level change, multiple proxies for global climate change and in glacier records themselves. While the LGM represents the coldest part of the LGC, it was also a very dry interval globally and, while glaciers in many parts of the world were at their most extensive positions of the last 130,000 years, in some areas the aridity resulted in smaller glaciers than at other times in the LGC. Nevertheless, in all areas, the LGM was a significant period of landscape change and the imprint of this climatic event provides a clear geomorphological legacy around the world, not least in Europe where glacial and periglacial environments dominated the continent.