Large glaciers and ice caps formed in the Mediterranean mountains during the cold stages of the Pleistocene and some small glaciers remain today. Here we review 157 outputs that include radiometric dates on glacial deposits or outwash in the Mediterranean published between 1975 and 2020. The last decade has seen a striking increase in the use of terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide (TCN) dating and this has revolutionised our understanding of the Late Pleistocene glacial record. Our meta-analysis of 1663 radiometric ages highlights much greater complexity in the timing of Pleistocene glaciation across the region than hitherto recognised. Evidence from multiple dating methods, in a range of depositional settings, confirms that the Mediterranean glacial record extends through all of the Late Pleistocene and deep into the Middle Pleistocene. Evidence of Early Pleistocene glacial activity has been recognised from outwash deposits in the Julian Alps of Slovenia. The most extensive glaciations occurred during the Middle Pleistocene: their ages have been established primarily by using ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar in the Italian Apennines and U-series dating in the glaciokarst of the Balkans. The Late Pleistocene glacial geochronologies are based on optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), radiocarbon and TCN dating. TCN dating is now the dominant method for dating Late Pleistocene glacial landforms. It is now clear that glaciers were present throughout the Late Pleistocene and, in most parts of the Mediterranean, they were at or near their maximum extent before the global last glacier maximum (27.5–23.3 ka). The outwash record in river valleys downstream of the glaciated terrains confirms that glaciers were important agents of landscape change throughout this period. Deglaciation in the Mediterranean mountains was punctuated by glacier stabilisations as well as some readvances towards the very end of the Pleistocene. The deglacial trend has continued throughout the Holocene with rapid change in recent decades due to rising global temperatures. Some small glaciers remain today due to the influence of locally favourable topoclimatic factors. For much of the Quaternary Period conditions in the Mediterranean mountains involved much more extensive glaciation than recorded at any time in the Holocene.

在更新世的寒冷阶段，地中海山区形成了大型冰川和冰盖，一些小型冰川今天仍然存在。在这里，我们回顾了 157 项输出，其中包括 1975 年至 2020 年间发表的地中海冰川沉积物或外冲流的放射性测年。过去十年中，陆地宇宙核素 (TCN) 测年的使用显着增加，这彻底改变了我们对晚更新世冰川记录。我们对 1663 年辐射年龄的元分析强调了该地区更新世冰川作用时间的复杂性比迄今为止公认的要复杂得多。在一系列沉积环境中，来自多种测年方法的证据证实，地中海冰川记录延伸到整个晚更新世并深入到中更新世。早更新世冰川活动的证据已从斯洛文尼亚朱利安阿尔卑斯山的外冲沉积物中得到确认。最广泛的冰川作用发生在中更新世：它们的年龄主要是通过使用意大利亚平宁山脉中的⁴⁰ Ar/ ³⁹ Ar 和巴尔干冰川冰川中的 U 系列测年。晚更新世冰川地质年代学基于光学受激发光 (OSL)、放射性碳和 TCN 测年。TCN测年是目前晚更新世冰川地貌测年的主要方法。现在很明显，冰川存在于整个晚更新世，并且在地中海的大部分地区，它们在全球最后一次冰川最大值（27.5-23.3 ka）之前达到或接近其最大范围。冰川地形下游河谷的外冲记录证实，冰川是整个景观变化的重要推动者这一时期。地中海山脉的冰川消融被冰川稳定以及更新世末期的一些重新破坏所打断。近几十年来，由于全球气温升高，冰消趋势在整个全新世持续发生，变化迅速。由于当地有利的地形气候因素的影响，一些小冰川今天仍然存在。在第四纪的大部分时间里，地中海山区的冰川作用比全新世记录的要广泛得多。