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Cenozoic -The development of the Earth as we know it today

Cenozoic -The development of the Earth as we know it today. At only 66 million years long, the Cenozoic is only 1.4% of all geologic time. Age of Ocean Basins Is Well Constrained. The Circum-Pacific Orogenic Belt. Geological Provinces of the U.S. The North American Cordillera.

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Cenozoic -The development of the Earth as we know it today

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  1. Cenozoic -The development of the Earth as we know it today • At only 66 million years long, • the Cenozoic is only 1.4% of all geologic time

  2. Age of Ocean Basins Is Well Constrained

  3. The Circum-Pacific Orogenic Belt

  4. Geological Provinces of the U.S

  5. The North American Cordillera • The North American Cordillera is one large segment of the circum-Pacific orogenic belt extending from Alaska to central Mexico • In the United States it widens to 1200 km, stretching east-west from the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean

  6. Cordilleran Mobile Belt Antler Orogeny in Devonian

  7. Change from Subduction • As the North American Plate overrode the Pacific–Farallon Ridge, its margin became transform faults • the San Andreas • and the Queen Charlotte • alternating with subduction zones

  8. Plate Interactions Continue http://earth.geol.ksu.edu/sgao/research/data/seiswus/example1.gif

  9. The Laramide Orogeny • Most active in Late Cretaceous to Eocene • Formation of the Rockies

  10. Cascade Range • Some of the highest mountains in the Cordillera are the Cascades • California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia • Thousands of volcanic vents are present • dozen large volcanoes • Lassen Peak in California • world's largest lava dome • Related to subduction of the Juan de Fuca plate http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/resedu/resedu2a.htm

  11. Colorado Plateau

  12. Colorado Plateau • Mesozoic sedimentary rocks in the Valley of the Gods, Utah • Paleozoic rocks exposed in the Grand Canyon, Arizona

  13. The Continental Interior • A vast area called the Interior Lowlands • the Great Plains • and the Central Lowlands

  14. The Southern and Eastern Continental Margins • The Atlantic Coastal Plain and the Gulf Coastal Plain form a continuous belt from the Northeastern United States to Texas

  15. Coastal Plain Similarities • Both areas have horizontal or gently seaward-dipping strata deposited mostly on land or in shallow water them • Seaward of the coastal plains lie the continental shelf, slope and rise, which are areas of notable Mesozoic and Cenozoic deposition http://www.missgeo.com/directors%20-%20mail.htm

  16. Gulf-Coastal-Plain Deposition • Depositional provinces and surface geology • Cenozoic Deposition on the Gulf Coastal Plain Cross section showing seaward thickening O strata

  17. Global climate of the Cenozoic was controlled by plate motions, and associated changes in ocean circulation, and by glaciation in Antarcitca

  18. The Ice Volume Record for the Cenozoic • Isotope record records ocean temperature and ice volume • Eustatic record derived from seismic stratigraphic studies • When did glaciation begin?

  19. Pleistocene Fluctuations You Are Here! Northern Hemisphere Glaciation Cyclicity

  20. Closing of the Isthmus of Panama • Shut off E/W global ocean flow American plates collided ~ 3.5 Ma

  21. This may have resulted in glaciation in the northern hemisphere Caribbean warms Gulf Stream moves warm water north Increases ocean evaporation and precipitation on land

  22. The Last Glacial Maximum

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