Studied by 3 people
cambrian , ordovician, silurian, devonian, carboniferous, permian, triassic, jurassic, cretaceous acronym
Camels Often Sit Down Carefully, Perhaps Their Joints Creak (periods before cenozoic)
Laurentia + Gondwana = ?
Pangea
Baltica & Laurentia collide = ? (orogeny)
Acadian orogeny
(modern appalachian)
Island arc collide west of Laurentia = ?
Antler Orogeny
Gondwana collide with Laurentia =
Alleghenian orogeny
(Appalachian)
NA Craton deformation = ? mountains
Ancestral Rockies
Milankovitch Theory
theory describing earths cyclical changes in climate
eccentricity , obliquity , precession
Event closest to climate change today
Paleo-Eocene thermal maximum
Pacific plate spreading center colliding with north american plate at a transform boundary
San andreas fault
Africa colliding with Europe
Alps, pyrenees, atlas, apennines
indian plate colliding with asian plate
himalayas
Why is the pacific ocean rock record asymmetrical
north and south american plates moving westward, disrupting ocean floor and causing subduction zones
What did the himalayas do to countries around them (india, china)
monsoons on front and rain shadow on back (desert in north)
Circum Pacific Orogenic Belt
mountain ranges and volcanic activity aka ring of fire
subduction of pacific plate
what cratonic sequence left sea over ND
zuni sequence (it regressed)
what cratonic sequence are we in today
tejas regression
Basin and Range system
crust sprrrreeeaadds apart = shallow valleys and ridges formed by plate extension from mantle plume OR from twisting of san andreas fault
what happens when (Jurassic) evaporite deposits rise thru younger sediment (started in cenozoic but noticable in miocene)
salt domes
isotasy definition
land sinks under weight of glaciers and rises when glaciers retreat
Isthmus of Panama
connection of north america and south america
formed in pliocene
how could the red river flow south?
rebound of isotasy in ND
What period are we in today? whats the climate SUPPOSED to be?
Holocene
we are supposed to be in an interglacial period…
(carboniferous) High O2 =
huge insects
2 types of bony fish
Lobe finned fish (muscular & our ancestors)
Ray finned fish (delicate)
name of tetrapod
Tiktaaiik
Wrist and elbow
name of tetrapod
acanthostega
8 toes and fingers on each
name of tetrapod
Pederpes
5 fingers and toes on each/ could hear
name of tetrapod
temnospondyl
most abundant carboniferous tetrapod
Late devonian mass extinction
75% extinct
extinct: shallow marine species, most trilobites, placoderms, most jawless fish
Late devonian mass extinction cause
no CLEAR cause
Anoxia, regressions & loss of shelf space , climate (glaciation), eutrophication
What periods do amphibians appear
early carboniferous
Difference between ferns and LOOKALIKE ferns
ferns have paired branches vs lookalikes have spirally arranged
Gymnosperms
seeds NOT spores
Whats the connection btwn the geosphere and biosphere in carboniferous
coal swamps
When do reptiles first appear
early carboniferous
name of these 2 reptiles
top: seymouria
bottom: Diadectes
Amniotes and their 3 categories by the # of holes in their head
Amniotes are a branch of reptiles abundant in carboniferous
Anapsid - 2 holes / synapsid - 3 holes / diapsid - 4 holes
What type of amniote are mammals ( __?__psid)
synapsid
What anapsid did wagner use to support pangea
mesosaur
name of synapsids
top: edaphosaurus
bottom: dimetrodon
name of synapsids
top: dicynodont
bottom : Gorgonopsid
permian 2 popular plants
ginkgos and cycads (look like THIC short palm tree)
Permian/Triassic Mass Extinction
WORST
90% life extinct
extinct: marine invertebrates, trilobites/blastoids/corals
Pangea breaks up with separation of what 2 landmasses
Laurasia & gondwana
Why does East NA have less rock record
passive margin / erosion = few rocks formed
Why are the western orogenies significant to pangea?
adds material to craton unlike most cont-cont collisions
What happened at the end of the mesozoic???
Chicxulub crater
6 miles wiiide
dust/overcast sky/acid rain
Triassic animals looked like what 2 things
dinosaurs and crocodiles
Icthyosaur
dolphin looking
evolved fins from many fingerrss (creepy)
we have evidence of it’s live birth
Plesiosaurs (2 types
flippers evolved from changes bones TO fingers
Long necked
short necked
what do fish - eaters have
conical teeth (think of dolphin mouth)
when were modern crocs introduced
middle of cretaceous
when first true dino introduced
mid triassic
dinosaurs split into 2 groups based on…
hip structure
hip bone only forward = saurischian
hip bone forward & back = ornithischian
first flying vertebrates (think of silent letter)
pterosaurs
flying vertebrate dinosaurs are split into 2 groups based on what
long tail or short tail
when modern turtles evolved
triassic
when did geckos and snakes evolve
mid cretaceous
when did our mammal like ancestors evolve
late triassic after dinosaurs
End Triassic Mass Extinction
45% species extinct
extinct: some crocodiles/dinosaurs , marine invertebrates (brachipods,ammonoids, bivalves)
End Triassic Mass Extinction Cause
Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (flood basalt) (lands touching todays atlantic)
Mesozoic marine revolution
after P/T extinction
less brachiopods & sponges —> more bivalves & crustaceans
How are ammonites classified
shell complexity
What are monotremes & one example
egg laying mammals
platypus
Marsupial and one example
nurse young in pouch
koala, opossum, Tasmanian devil, wombats
what are placental mammals
mammal w/ organ that feeds fetus
1st ones looked rodent-like
Angiosperm
flowering plants
Cretaceous/Paleocene Mass Extinction
starvation & dark sky
65% of life
What is precession
precession - direction of earth’s axis rotation points
what is obliquity
tilt of earths axis
eccentricity
shape of orbit
when were cascades active?
Eocene
what did sand dollars evolve from
sea urchins
What were the last 2 terror birds and how did they go extinct
Moa & Elephant birds
humans
Whats the next evolution closest to a terror bird?
OStrich
What was the temperature like in the paleocene
Warm & tropical
mammal evolution in paleocene
armadillos, anteaters, sloths
1st elephants
hoofed carnivores
rodents
What makes a primate a primate?
~30 traits
opposable digit, flat nails, sensitive tactile pad
large brain relative to body & front facing eyes
parental care
What happened at the end of the paleocene and the beginning of eocene
paleocene-eocene thermal maximum
what exists by the end of eocene
ancestors of all modern groups
Eocene animals
manatees & dugongs, bats, cows, sheep, deer, rhino lookalikes & hornless rhino, carnivorans
camels and llamas in NA
How, when, and why did whales evolve
took 8 million years starting in eocene
from deerlike ancestors → seen in their ankles & ears
productive ocean
the 1st horses description
small
lived in forest - ate leaves
small teeth
4 fingers & 3 toes
(in eocene)
Oligocene animals
Sloths, gomphotheres, famous marsupials, pigs & hippos
Oligocene forests went from gymnosperms to
broad-leafed forests
after horses evolved description
large
grass land
large teeth
1 finger 1 toe
(in miocene)
why did ____ become abundant in the miocene (plant)?
Grass became abundant as the globe cooled off and savannahs turned into steppes
when did genus “Homo” evolve
start of pleistocene
when did OUR species “Homo Sapien” show up?
350k years ago
what land formed in pliocene that allowed movement of animals
Isthmus of panama → great american interchange
The great american interchange shows
21% of NA modern genera started in SA
50% of SA modern genera started in NA
Why is the great american interchange lopsided?
outcompeted?
harder to adapt from tropical region → cool vs reverse
What do final extinctions of animals all around the world correspond with?
human invasion
What happens during a glacial period, like in pliocene thru pleistocene
advancing and retreating of ice
what type of animal can be used for biostratigraphy bc they were so abundant
mammals
Paleocene eocene oligocene miocene pliocene pleistocene holocene
Playful elephants often make perfect picnic hosts (cenozoic epoch acronym)
period of last flooding in ND
paleocene
what made ND’s topography as it is today
glaciers
What mobile belt change from passive to active and made mountains?
Ouachita orogeny
4 steps of Wilson cycle
Opening of an ocean basin
sedimentation on margins (heavier)
begins to subduct passive margin
pulls continents back & collide = orogeny
