Earth Thru Time UND

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

1. Opening of an ocean basin

2. sedimentation on margins (heavier)

3. begins to subduct passive margin

4. pulls continents back & collide = orogeny