Term
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Definition
| What is the Cenozoic referred to as? The Age of ____. |
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Term
| 65.5 million years ago to the present |
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Definition
| What is the time frame for the Cenozoic Era? |
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Term
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Definition
| What does the word "cenozoic" mean? |
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Term
- adaptive radiation of the mammals
- cooling of the Earth's climate resulting in the Ice Ages
- evolution of humans |
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Definition
| The Cenozoic is the time of: |
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Term
| older Paleogene Period and younger Neogene Period |
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Definition
| What two periods the the Cenozoic Era consist of? |
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Term
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Definition
| Until 2003, the two periods in the Cenozoic Era were the ___ and the ___ Periods. You will see these terms on older maps and in older publications. |
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Term
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Definition
| The two periods of the Cenozoic Era are officially recognized as the ___ and the ___. |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
- Antarctica and Australia were still connected
- India had not yet collided with Asia
- North and South America are not yet connected |
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Definition
| During the Eocene (50mya): |
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Term
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Definition
| What is the time period for the Paleogene? |
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Term
- deposition of marine sediments in eastern and southeastern North America
- presence of mountains and lakes in western North America |
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Definition
| What was North America like during the Paleogene? |
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Term
- Eight marine transgressions and regressions are recorded in Cenozoic sediments on Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains
- Transgressions brought Gulf of Mexico waters inland as far as southern Illinois
- During regressions, deltaic sands were deposited over offshore shale.
- Gulf of Mexico region has been subsiding rapidly generating 10km thick Paleogene sediments |
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Definition
| Describe the Gulf of Mexico during the Paleogene. |
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Term
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Definition
| Rocky Mountains were created by Late ___ and ___ deformation. |
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Term
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Definition
| What is the name of the deformation that created the Rocky Mountains in the late Cretaceous and Paleogene periods? |
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Term
| low areas between the mountains or intermontane basins |
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Definition
| Sediments eroded from the Rocky Mountains were trapped in ___ or ___. |
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Term
| Eocene Green River Formation |
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Definition
| ___ is a lake deposit during "hot-house" world with fossil fish, insects, and plants. |
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Term
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Definition
| Eocene Green River Formation is the richest ___ deposits in the world |
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Term
| Eocene Green River Formation |
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Definition
| In the ___ Formation, with expensive, slow-heating procedures, oil can be extracted from the kerogen-rich shale. |
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Term
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Definition
| The ___ occupies a broad area in Nevada and Utah, within compressional western U.S.A. |
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Term
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Definition
| The Basin and Range Province occupies a broad area in ___, within compressional western U.S.A. |
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Term
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Definition
| The Basin and Range Province occupies a broad area in Nevada and Utah, within ___ U.S.A. |
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Term
- The province is dominated by up-faulted mountain ranges and down-faulted basins.
- Miocene crustal extension and normal faulting is related to changes of mantle convection. |
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Definition
| Describe the Basin and Range Province. |
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Term
| Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico |
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Definition
| Colorado Plateau is centered in the four-corners region, where ___, ___, ___, and ___ meet. |
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Term
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Definition
| The best-known feature of the Colorado Plateau is the ___. |
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Term
- Eroded by the Colorado River to a depth of more than 1.6 miles
- river eroded through Phanerozoic strata and into Precambrian basement rocks. |
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Definition
| Describe the Grand Canyon. |
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Term
- the rocks are relatively flat-lying meaning that they were not deformed during the Mesozoic orogenies.
- The Plateau was repeatedly raised during the Pliocne and extensive erodion occurred due to this uplift, generating the Grand Canyon. |
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Definition
| Describe the Colorado Plateau Uplift. |
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Term
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Definition
| THe Sierra Nevada mountains lie in ___. |
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Term
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Definition
| The Sierra Nevada Mountains belong to a large granite body called the ___. |
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Term
| -it was formed as the Farallon plate was being subducted under the North American plate during the Mesozoic. |
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Definition
| How was the Sierra Nevada batholith formed? |
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Term
- Erosion during the Paleogene removed overlying rocks, causing batholith to be exposed at the surface
- During Pliocene and Pleistocene, the Sierra Nevada batholith was raised up along normal faults to a height of 4000 m (>2 miles) above California trough to the west. |
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Definition
| Describe the Sierra Nevada Mountains. |
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Term
| Africa and India with Eurasia |
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Definition
| Collision of ___ and ___ with ___ formed the Alpine-Himalayan Belt |
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Term
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Definition
| Collision of Africa and India with Eurasia closed the Tethys and formed the ___. |
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Term
| the European Alps, the Zagros Mountains in Iran, and the Himalayas, stretching from Spain to Indonesia |
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Definition
| What does the Alpine-Himalayan belt include? |
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Term
| a continent breaking up at a triple junction |
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Definition
| Formation of Rift Valleys of East Africa during the Neogene indicate what? |
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Term
| Volcanoes (Kilimanjaro) and lakes (Tanganyika) |
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Definition
| In the East African Rift, the formation of rift valleys was associated with what? |
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Term
| currents moving southward from more equatorial latitudes |
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Definition
| Before Antarctica separated from Australia, it was warmed by ____, despite the fact that it sat on the South Pole. |
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Term
| early Eocene (about 55mya) |
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Definition
| Australia separated from Antarctica in ___. |
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Term
- circumpolar currents isolated Antarctica from warmer waters
- led to the cooling of Antarctica and building of south-pole ice-sheet. |
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Definition
| What happened when Australia separated from Antarctica in the early Eocene (55mya)? |
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Term
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Definition
| ___ (established during the Pliocene) blocked westward flow of North Atlantic Current |
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Term
| Pliocene; North Atlantic Current |
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Definition
| Panama land bridge (established during ___) blocked the westward flow of ___. |
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Term
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Definition
| As a result of the Panama land bridge, the current was deflected to the ___ (turning to the right),and formed the ___. |
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Term
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Definition
| The Gulf Stream transported warm water ___ and brought warmer climates to ___. |
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Term
| North Pole; precipitation; ice sheets |
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Definition
| The Gulf Stream also supplied warm, moist air toward the ___, which would ultimately result in ___ which helped build glacial ___. |
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Term
| 10 degrees C or 18 degrees F; "Greenhouse" |
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Definition
| There was a ___ temperature drop at the end of the Cretaceous. It was the end of the Mesozoic ___ condition |
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Term
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Definition
| There was a 10 degrees C, 18 degrees F at the end of the ___. It was the end of the ___ "Greenhouse" condition |
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Term
| Paleocene and early Eocene; "Hothouse" |
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Definition
| There were several warming trends in the late ___ and early ___, giving it the nickname: "___" world |
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Term
| 8-13 degrees C or 22 degrees F |
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Definition
| Temperatures dropped about ___ near the Eocene-Oligocene boundary |
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Term
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Definition
| Temperatures dropped about 8-13 degrees C or 22 degrees F near the ___. |
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Term
- Antarctic sea Ice began to form by 38mya
- Global sea level dropped by about 50m |
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Definition
| What where the effects of the temperature drop near the Eocene-Oligocene boundary? |
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Term
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Definition
| Hothouse conditions were replaced by icehouse conditions which were ___ (times) |
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Term
- sea-level drop, associated with glaciation in Miocene, resulted in isolation of the Mediterranean basin
- deep canyons were cut by rivers feeding int he Mediterranean
- Mediterranean Sea dried up producing thick evaporites |
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Definition
| Describe the Messinian Salinity Crisis |
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Term
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Definition
| The Pleistocne began ___. |
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Term
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Definition
| The most extensive glaciations began about ___. |
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Term
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Definition
| In the most extensive glaciations, ice covered about ___ of Earth's land area. |
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Term
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Definition
| In the Pleistocene Ice Age, continental glaciers covered much of ___ and ___. |
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Term
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Definition
| Late ___ and ___ had strong, rapid climatic fluctuations. |
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Term
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Definition
| There may have been as many as ___ glacial advances over the past 3 million years, which equals out to about one every ___ years. |
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Term
- Sea level dropped as much as 75 m (225 ft) and shoreline shifted seaward exposing the continental shelves as dry land
- streams cut deep canyons into continental shelves and on land
- land bridges existed and led to migrations of mammals, including humans across the Bering Sea between Siberia and Alaska, between australia and indonesia, and the british isles were attached to Europe
- great lakes were formed |
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Definition
| What were the Results of the Ice Age? |
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Term
| It was the result of the Ice Age. Glaciers moved south; glaciers scoured deep depressions, and as glaciers retreated, meltwater filled the depressions |
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Definition
| Why were the Great Lakes formed? |
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Term
| Milankovitch Cycles: hypothesis that temperature fluctuations is related to Earth's orbital oscillations affecting the amount of solar radiation received at Earth. |
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Definition
| Why did Earth's surface cool? |
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