Northgrippian

The Northgrippian is an important time in Earth's history. It is the middle part of the Holocene Epoch, the time we live in today. The Northgrippian was named in June 2018 by the International Commission on Stratigraphy, along with two other periods: the Greenlandian and the Meghalayan.

This period is named after the North Greenland Ice Core Project, a big science project that studied ice from Greenland. The Northgrippian started about 8,276 years ago, close to a big change in the climate called the 8.2-kiloyear event. It ended when the Meghalayan period began, around 4,200 years ago, near another climate change called the 4.2-kiloyear event. Learning about these times helps scientists see how Earth’s climate has changed.

Stratotype

The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point marks the start of the Northgrippian age. It is an ice core from near central Greenland. The core was taken by the North Greenland Ice Core Project (NorthGRIP or NGRIP). The site is at 75°06′N, 42°19′W. The ice core shows a big drop in temperature from about 8,200 years ago.

Climate

After a cooler period, the Earth's climate warmed up again and reached its highest temperatures during a time called the Holocene. This warm time was called the Holocene climatic optimum. There were some small changes in weather during this time.

Around the year 2250 BC, the climate got cooler for a short time. This cooler period marked the end of the Northgrippian and the start of the Meghalayan Age. During the warm period, there were changes in wind patterns and rain, and the polar ice caps were smaller than at any other time in the Holocene.

Main article: Holocene climatic optimum

Further information: Meghalayan Age

Paleofauna

The giant ground sloth, Megatherium americanum, was one of the largest land mammals. It weighed up to 4 tons and was up to 6 meters long. It lived in Argentina before it went extinct around 5370 BC. Another big animal was the deer called Megaloceros giganteus. It went extinct in the Urals and western Siberia around 4866 BC.

Prehistory

The Northgrippian was a time when many parts of the world started to change from hunting and gathering to farming and raising animals. This change marked the start of the Neolithic period, an important step in how people lived. Only a few places invented farming on their own, and from there, these new ways of living spread to other areas. By the end of this period, most of Eurasia had moved on from hunting and gathering to more settled ways of life.