ABSTRACT
During the last ice age, there were dramatic changes in the distribution of the world's lakes. In many non-glaciated environments, changing patterns of precipi-tation, evaporation and temperature led to major fluctuations in the size of many lakes. In addition, the development of the major northern hemisphere ice sheets resulted in the creation of extensive ice-dammed lakes (see Chapter 5). For a long time it was believed that many lakes in non-glaciated regions fluctuated in response to the growth and decay of the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets. It was thought that high, so-called, ‘pluvial’ lake levels occurred during periods of glaciation, as a result of the combined influence of lower temperatures, increased precipitation and decreased evaporation. However, this interpretation is now considered to be mistaken and, instead, it is thought that lakes have responded to Late Quaternary global climate changes in very complex ways.
