Jurassic

Question 1

Start of the jurassic

Answer 1

MARKS THE Establishment of our modern plate boundaries as Pangea Split

CONVERGENT IN THE PACIFIC

DIVERGENT IN THE ATLANTIC

Question 2

How did pangea split?

Answer 2

Began first in the north before ripping open toward the south

Created numerous rift valleys

Along a divergent boundary between continents, Volcanic features should be very common

Question 3

One sill that formed during pangeas split

Answer 3

Palisades sill found along the hudson river in NYC, 200 million years ago

Question 4

What does the triassic jurassic boundary mark?

Answer 4

Triassic Jurassic boundary, coincides with another mass extinction and loss in diversity

Question 5

What caused this mass extinction?

Answer 5

Extensive volcanism due to the splitting of pangea, release of CO2 raised temp globally

Question 6

What did the volcanism of the triassic jurassic cause?

Answer 6

Global temp rise 4-5 deg Celsius or 7-9 degrees Fahrenheit

Catastrophic warming

Question 7

Who are the ancestors to birds?

Answer 7

Theropod

Fossil bird like the Archaeopteryx shows both features of bird and dinosaur

Question 8

What does the archaeopteryx have?

Answer 8

3 fingers, teeth, bony trail , wish bone, wings, and feathers

WSIHGBONES only found in birds and behave like a spring that aids in their winged flight

Dinosaurs with wishbones probably flew

Question 9

How is the wing formed?

Answer 9

Fusion of the first (thumb), second (index), and third fingers

4-5 fingers already lost by the theropods

Question 10

When was the western North America a typical convergent boundary?

Answer 10

100 million years ago

ASSOCIATED WITH CONVERGENT BOUNDARY, continental volcanoes, and subduction zone

Question 11

What rock types are found in California?

Answer 11

METAMORPHIC, SEDIMENTARY, AND IGNEOUS ROCKS from the cretaceous

ALSO CRATON ROCKS

Question 12

What does the Sierra Nevada mountains consist of?

Answer 12

Granite formed about 100 million years ago, makes up a long chain of igneous rocks

Question 13

What does central valley consist of?

Answer 13

Derived from Sierra Nevada SEDIMENTS

Question 14

What happened to the Central valley?

Answer 14

Sediment from the sierra nevada mountains flowed west to fill the central valley of california, central valley was an ocean at the time

Question 15

What does the coast ranges of california made out of?

Answer 15

Metamorphic rocks

Subduction buried sedimentary rocks and converted them into metamorphic rocks

rocks tacked on to the continent

Subduction = Metamorphic

Ocean = sedimentary

Volcano = igneous

Metamorphic rocks piled up along North America over the past 100 million years

Elevated temperatures and pressures led to metamorphism of these subducted rocks

Question 16

What are the current geology of California?

Answer 16

Metamorphic, sedimentary, igneous

Question 17

What happened to the Sea level during the Mesozoic?

Answer 17

Global sea level rises through Mesozoic and reaches high levels during the Cretaceous

Question 18

What forms the Western interior seaway?

Answer 18

As sea level rises, seawater is forced up onto the continent flooding the interior of NA

Provided a way for marine organisms to travel from north to south through NA

Question 19

What is preserved in the seaway?

Answer 19

CHALK : Biogenic sedimentary rock formed from microscopic form of sea life

Chalk is a limestone that forms from the calcite shells of photosynthetic algae called COCCOLITHS, accumulates in the DEEP OCEAN

Question 20

What does the Western Interior Seaway contain?

Answer 20

Sandy beaches now preserved in sandstone from utah

Mudstone and chalk as well

Question 21

How much of each rock type did the Seaway have?

Answer 21

Utah - Sandstone

Colorado - Sandstone, Mudstone, Chalk

Kansas and Nebraska - Little sandstone, alot of mudstone, little chalk

Iowa - mostly chalk, little sandstone

Question 22

How was life during the Cretaceous?

Answer 22

LIFE WAS DOING INCREDIBLY WELL

CHALK was a sign of major biological productivity and appeared on many different LANDMASSES

Algae = Life

Chalk = Algae

Question 23

What happens to the reefs at the end of the cretaceous?

Answer 23

Diversify and there is an introduction to a strange new mollusk new to the reefs and world

Rudists - Strange mollusk, emerges in the cretaceous but then goes extinct

Question 24

Rudist Bivalves

Answer 24

Very unique type of bivalve one valve has elongated into a vertical cone, and the other valve became a cap like cover

SOME RUDIST BIVALVES took on some very unusual shapes and lifestyles as well, most probably lived pointed end down

Question 25

What were the top reef builders of the Cretaceous?

Answer 25

RUDISTS WERE TOP REEF BUILDERS

Forming massive buildups, they would go extinct alongside the dinosaurs

Question 26

How does the cretaceous end?

Answer 26

Major extinction called the K T mass extinction, DINOSAURS GO EXTINCT AT THIS TIME