Lake Agassiz
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Lake Agassiz was a large proglacial lake that existed in central North America during the late Pleistocene, fed by meltwater from the retreating Laurentide Ice Sheet at the end of the last glacial period. At its peak, the lake's area was larger than all of the modern Great Lakes combined.
Traverse Gap in the riverbed of Glacial River Warren. The former southern outlet of Lake Agassiz and source of River Warren is at Lake Traverse at the bottom of the photo; the flooded valley in the center (now Brown's Valley) and Big Stone Lake in the distance are relics of the river.
Lockhart Phase of Lake Agassiz, c. 13,000 YBP. Teller and Leverington, 2004 (U.S. Geological Survey)
Pleistocene
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The Pleistocene is the geological epoch that lasted from c. 2.58 million to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in 2009 by the International Union of Geological Sciences, the cutoff of the Pleistocene and the preceding Pliocene was regarded as being 1.806 million years Before Present (BP). Publications from earlier years may use either definition of the period. The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with the end of the last glacial period and also with the end of the Paleolithic age used in archaeology. The name is a combination of Ancient Greek πλεῖστος (pleîstos), meaning "most", and καινός, meaning "new".
Evolution of temperature in the Post-Glacial period at the very end of the Pleistocene, according to Greenland ice cores
Various schemes for subdividing the Pleistocene
Pleistocene of Northern Spain, including woolly mammoth, cave lions eating a reindeer, horses, and woolly rhinoceros
Pleistocene of South America, including Megatherium and two Glyptodon