gy 112: earth history - university of south alabamaoligocene (37 - 24 ma) eocene (58- 37 ma)...
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GY 112: Earth History
Lectures 34 and 35: Cenozoic Overview and Tectonics
Instructor: Dr. Douglas W. Haywick
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA
Last Time Mesozoic Sedimentation
A) Triassic Sedimentation (Breakup of Pangaea) B) Jurassic Sedimentation (Birth of the Atlantic Ocean) C) Cretaceous Sedimentation (Creation of the Coastal Plain Province) D) Mesozoic-Cenozoic climate (Greenhouse-Icehouse Earth Transition) (web notes 32)
Mesozoic Sedimentation
Triassic •Initial opening of Gulf of Mexico
Mesozoic Sedimentation
Triassic •Initial opening of Gulf of Mexico
Mesozoic Sedimentation
Early Jurassic •Initial flooding of Gulf of Mexico and Northern Atlantic Ocean
Mesozoic Sedimentation
Late-Triassic/Early Jurassic
Mesozoic Sedimentation
Late Jurassic …major transgression and flooding of the craton begins
•Sundance Sea
Mesozoic Sedimentation
Late Jurassic …major transgression and flooding of the craton begins
•Sundance Sea •Clastic wedges
Mesozoic Sedimentation
Cretaceous •Southern rifting in the Atlantic Ocean
•Gulf of Mexico stops opening
Mesozoic Sedimentation
Cretaceous •Southern rifting in the Atlantic Ocean
•Gulf of Mexico stops opening
•AL Coastal Plain sedimentation
Mesozoic Sedimentation
North South
Only key formations are labeled (those discussed in GY 112)
Mesozoic Climate
• Period of high sea level – Associated with rapid
sea floor spreading – Long period without
reversal Long Cretaceous Normal Chron
Cenozoic Climate
Paleocene-Middle Eocene: •No circumpolar current Late Eocene-today: •Circumpolar current
–Permitted development of glaciers on Antarctica
Cenozoic Climate
A) Cenozoic Overview B) Cenozoic Tectonics 1. More orogenies (Laramide) 2. Western North American tectonic provinces 3. Plateaus and canyons
Today’s Agenda
(Web notes 34, 35)
Cenozoic Time Frame
Era Years Cenozoic (0 to 65 MA)
Mesozoic (65 to 245 MA)
Paleozoic (245 to 550 MA)
Phan
eroz
oic
Period Years Quaternary (1.6 to 0 MA)
Tertiary (65 to 1.6 MA)
Cen
ozoi
c The Tertiary and Quaternary periods are relicts of an early geological classification of time (Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Quaternary). The former divisions were soon abandoned. The latter divisions are dropping out of favor.
Cenozoic Time Frame
Period Years Neogene (24 to 0 MA)
Paleogene (65 to 24 MA)
Cen
ozoi
c
International
USA
Introducing the Epochs (the smallest common divisions of geological time)
Cenozoic Time Frame C
enoz
oic
Period Epoch
Quaternary (1.6 - 0 MA)
Holocene (10,000 – 0 years)
Pleistocene (1,600,000 – 10,000 years)
Tertiary (65-1.6 MA)
Pliocene (5.0 – 1.6 MA)
Miocene (24-5.0 MA)
Oligocene (37 - 24 MA)
Eocene (58- 37 MA)
Paleocene (65-58 MA)
Key Cenozoic Evolutionary Events
Cenozoic Life
• Recovery from Cretaceous extinctions – Modern life forms – New animals
• Sharks (Megaladons in Plio-Pleistocene)
• Marine life – Miocene ancestral
whales • Sperm whale • Baleen whales • Dolphin
– Miocene recovery of planktonic foraminifera
Cenozoic Life
• Sandy coasts offer new niches – Sand dollars evolved
from sea biscuits • Flowering plants
expanded – Grasses originated
Cenozoic Life
• Mammals diversified – Most modern orders present by Early Eocene
Cenozoic Life
• Bats present by early Eocene
Cenozoic Life
• Primates evolved in Paleocene – Climbing by Early
Eocene
Cenozoic Life
• Primates modernized in Oligocene – Monkeys – Apelike primates
• Aegyptopithecus
Cenozoic Life
• Mammalian carnivores evolved by mid-Paleogene
Cenozoic Life
• And diversified soon after... – Saber tooth tiger – Bearlike dogs – Wolflike animals
Cenozoic Life
• Earliest horses by end of Paleocene – Size of small dogs
Cenozoic Life
• Early Eocene elephants – Moeritherium
• Earliest • Pig sized
Cenozoic Life
• Mesonychids – Doglike – Size of small bears
• Diatrymas – Huge flightless birds – Clawed feet and slicing
beaks
Cenozoic Life
• Few birds with flight – Most waded – No songbirds
Cenozoic Life
• Oligocene mammals – A few horses in North
America – Rhinoceroses
• Paraceratherium • Largest land mammal
of all time
Cenozoic Life
• Terrestrial Life – Grasses – Herbs and weeds – Requires arid climate
• Cooler climate linked to Antarctic glaciation
Cenozoic Life
• Spread of C4 grasses – C4 plants
• Incorporate more carbon 13 than C3 grasses
• Five times more silica – Wears down teeth of
grazers
Cenozoic Life
Cenozoic Deep Ocean Currents
Chalk Board
Cenozoic Tectonic Events
Cenozoic Tectonic Events
•Final breakup of Gondwanna (Australia separated from Antarctica in the Latest Paleocene – earliest Eocene epochs) •India began to collide with Asia forming the Himalayan Mountain Range (Oligocene to Recent) •Africa started to shift northward, gradually sliding under Europe and uplifting the Alps (Oligocene to Recent) •Continued westward movement of North America and South America formed an on again off again land bridge between the two continents. This gave rise to some interesting animal exchanges (see evolutionary events below). •North American orogenies become dominated by strike-slip faulting and uplift. Mountain building in the northern part of the Cordilleran mountains (mostly Canada) slow down stop during the Oligocene. Activity shifts to the southern part of the mountain chain (Colorado, Nevada etc.). •Major late Tertiary flood basalt eruptions occur in Oregon and Washington state. Hot spot volcanism occurs in the area of Yellowstone (Pliocene to present). Composite volcanic eruptions (some incredibly explosive) periodically occurred and still do (e.g., Mt St Helen’s).
Cenozoic Tectonic Events
•Final breakup of Gondwanna (Australia separated from Antarctica in the Latest Paleocene – earliest Eocene epochs) •India began to collide with Asia forming the Himalayan Mountain Range (Oligocene to Recent) •Africa started to shift northward, gradually sliding under Europe and uplifting the Alps (Oligocene to Recent) •Continued westward movement of North America and South America formed an on again off again land bridge between the two continents. This gave rise to some interesting animal exchanges (see evolutionary events below). •North American orogenies become dominated by strike-slip faulting and uplift. Mountain building in the northern part of the Cordilleran mountains (mostly Canada) slow down stop during the Oligocene. Activity shifts to the southern part of the mountain chain (Colorado, Nevada etc.). •Major late Tertiary flood basalt eruptions occur in Oregon and Washington state. Hot spot volcanism occurs in the area of Yellowstone (Pliocene to present). Composite volcanic eruptions (some incredibly explosive) periodically occurred and still do (e.g., Mt St Helen’s).
Cenozoic Tectonic Events
•Final breakup of Gondwanna (Australia separated from Antarctica in the Latest Paleocene – earliest Eocene epochs) •India began to collide with Asia forming the Himalayan Mountain Range (Oligocene to Recent) •Africa started to shift northward, gradually sliding under Europe and uplifting the Alps (Oligocene to Recent) •Continued westward movement of North America and South America formed an on again off again land bridge between the two continents. This gave rise to some interesting animal exchanges . •North American orogenies become dominated by strike-slip faulting and uplift. Mountain building in the northern part of the Cordilleran mountains (mostly Canada) slow down stop during the Oligocene. Activity shifts to the southern part of the mountain chain (Colorado, Nevada etc.). •Major late Tertiary flood basalt eruptions occur in Oregon and Washington state. Hot spot volcanism occurs in the area of Yellowstone (Pliocene to present). Composite volcanic eruptions (some incredibly explosive) periodically occurred and still do (e.g., Mt St Helen’s).
Cenozoic Tectonic Events
•Final breakup of Gondwanna (Australia separated from Antarctica in the Latest Paleocene – earliest Eocene epochs) •India began to collide with Asia forming the Himalayan Mountain Range (Oligocene to Recent) •Africa started to shift northward, gradually sliding under Europe and uplifting the Alps (Oligocene to Recent) •Continued westward movement of North America and South America formed an on again off again land bridge between the two continents. This gave rise to some interesting animal exchanges (see evolutionary events below). •North American orogenies become dominated by strike-slip faulting and uplift. Mountain building in the northern part of the Cordilleran mountains (mostly Canada) slow down stop during the Oligocene. Activity shifts to the southern part of the mountain chain (Colorado, Nevada etc.). •Major late Tertiary flood basalt eruptions occur in Oregon and Washington state. Hot spot volcanism occurs in the area of Yellowstone (Pliocene to present). Composite volcanic eruptions (some incredibly explosive) periodically occurred and still do (e.g., Mt St Helen’s).
Cenozoic Tectonic Events
•Final breakup of Gondwanna (Australia separated from Antarctica in the Latest Paleocene – earliest Eocene epochs) •India began to collide with Asia forming the Himalayan Mountain Range (Oligocene to Recent) •Africa started to shift northward, gradually sliding under Europe and uplifting the Alps (Oligocene to Recent) •Continued westward movement of North America and South America formed an on again off again land bridge between the two continents. This gave rise to some interesting animal exchanges (see evolutionary events below). •North American orogenies become dominated by strike-slip faulting and uplift. Mountain building in the northern part of the Cordilleran mountains (mostly Canada) slows down stop during the Oligocene. Activity shifts to the southern part of the mountain chain (Colorado, Nevada etc.). •Major late Tertiary flood basalt eruptions occur in Oregon and Washington state. Hot spot volcanism occurs in the area of Yellowstone (Pliocene to present). Composite volcanic eruptions (some incredibly explosive) periodically occurred and still do (e.g., Mt St Helen’s).
Cenozoic Tectonic Events
•Final breakup of Gondwanna (Australia separated from Antarctica in the Latest Paleocene – earliest Eocene epochs) •India began to collide with Asia forming the Himalayan Mountain Range (Oligocene to Recent) •Africa started to shift northward, gradually sliding under Europe and uplifting the Alps (Oligocene to Recent) •Continued westward movement of North America and South America formed an on again off again land bridge between the two continents. This gave rise to some interesting animal exchanges (see evolutionary events below). •North American orogenies become dominated by strike-slip faulting and uplift. Mountain building in the northern part of the Cordilleran mountains (mostly Canada) slows down stop during the Oligocene. Activity shifts to the southern part of the mountain chain (Colorado, Nevada etc.). •Major late Tertiary flood basalt eruptions occur in Oregon and Washington state. Hot spot volcanism occurs in the area of Yellowstone (Pliocene to present). Composite volcanic eruptions (some incredibly explosive) periodically occurred and still do (e.g., Mt St Helen’s).
Tectonic Events
• Cordilleran region – Laramide orogeny – New tectonic style
Laramide Orogeny
• Northern segment • Active igneous
activity – Active fold and thrust
belt inland – Quiescent from Great
Valley to Colorado Plateau
• Low angle of subduction
Laramide Orogeny • Thrust sheets exposed in Rockies
Laramide Orogeny
• Yellowstone hot spot – Buried trees in lavas
• Over 20 successive forests buried
Regional Events–Caribbean • Caribbean plate isolated
Land Bridges
• Isthmus of Panama – North and South
American mammals developed separately
– Pliocene uplift of isthmus allowed for exchange of terrestrial fauna
Other US Cenozoic Events • Scablands
– Bare rock scoured by floods
– Water-carved channels – 20,000–11,000 years
ago – Bretz, 1923
http://www.airphotona.com/image.asp?imageid=16899&catnum=0&keyword=&country=&state=&pagenum=6
Other US Cenozoic Events • Scablands
– Bare rock scoured by floods
– Water-carved channels – 20,000–11,000 years
ago – Bretz, 1923
http://hugefloods.com/Ellensburg.html
• Scablands – Depositional features – Giant ripples
• 5 m tall • 100 m apart
Other US Cenozoic Events
• Water source – Lake Missoula
Other US Cenozoic Events
(Waitt, 1980)
Himalayan Mountains
• Indian craton collided with Eurasia
Himalayan Mountains
• Miocene clastic sediments overlying Eocene limestone
• Most uplift during last 15 million years
Himalayan Mountains • Broad Tibetan plateau
– 3 miles above sea level
Himalayan Mountains
• Indian plate subducted • Continental collision
– Fold and thrust belt – Modern motion along
main boundary fault
Cenozoic Tectonic Events • Cordilleran region
– Laramide orogeny – New tectonic style
Cenozoic Tectonics
First a recap: The tectonic style in the Mesozoic is best described as “accretionary”
Mesozoic Tectonics
Jurassic
Mesozoic Tectonics
Cretaceous
Mesozoic Tectonics
Cretaceous
Mesozoic Tectonics
Cretaceous
Cenozoic Tectonics
But that’s not all. In the southwest during the Cenozoic (Oligocene to Recent), compression is gradually replaced by shear and then by uplift
Cenozoic Tectonics
But that’s not all. In the southwest during the Cenozoic, compression is gradually replaced by shear and then by uplift
Uplift
Cenozoic Tectonics
Compression is gradually replaced by shear and then by uplift
60 MA
Cenozoic Tectonics
Compression is gradually replaced by shear and then by uplift
35 MA
Cenozoic Tectonics
Compression is gradually replaced by shear and then by uplift
25 MA
Cenozoic Tectonics
Compression is gradually replaced by shear and then by uplift
10 MA
Cenozoic Tectonics
Compression is gradually replaced by shear and then by uplift
10 MA
Uplift
Cenozoic Tectonics
?
Cenozoic Tectonics
Eocene Tectonic elements:
http://www.geology.wisc.edu/courses/g109/Additional/plate_motions.htm
Cenozoic Tectonics
Miocene Tectonic elements:
http://www.geology.wisc.edu/courses/g109/Additional/plate_motions.htm
Cenozoic Tectonics
Modern Tectonic elements:
http://www.geology.wisc.edu/courses/g109/Additional/plate_motions.htm
Cenozoic Tectonics
As North America drifts to the WNW, we eventually run over the leading edge of the East Pacific Rise Eocene
http://www.geology.wisc.edu/courses/g109/Additional/plate_motions.htm
Cenozoic Tectonics
As North America drifts to the WNW, we eventually run over the leading edge of the East Pacific Rise Oligocene
http://www.geology.wisc.edu/courses/g109/Additional/plate_motions.htm
Cenozoic Tectonics
As North America drifts to the WNW, we eventually run over the leading edge of the East Pacific Rise Miocene
http://www.geology.wisc.edu/courses/g109/Additional/plate_motions.htm
Cenozoic Tectonics
As North America drifts to the WNW, we eventually run over the leading edge of the East Pacific Rise Today
http://www.geology.wisc.edu/courses/g109/Additional/plate_motions.htm
Cenozoic Tectonics
As North America drifts to the WNW, we eventually run over the leading edge of the East Pacific Rise And uplift now affects the SW Today
http://www.geology.wisc.edu/courses/g109/Additional/plate_motions.htm
Uplift
Cenozoic Tectonics
Key tectonic elements: 1) Farallon Plate (east of East Pacific Rise; east drift) 2) Pacific Plate (west of East Pacific Rise; west drift)
Cenozoic Tectonics
Key tectonic elements: 1) Farallon Plate (east of East Pacific Rise; east drift) 2) Pacific Plate (west of East Pacific Rise; west drift) 3) Juan de Fuca Plate (east of East Pacific Rise; east drift) 4) Cocos Plate (east of East Pacific Rise; east drift)
Cenozoic Tectonics
Key tectonic style: simple uplift Laramide Orogeny
Cenozoic Tectonics
One explanation for the uplift and high heat flow is shown here… ... low thrust angle shifts heat/magma generation eastward.
Cenozoic Tectonics
One explanation for the uplift and high heat flow is shown here… Another consideration is that we have increased convection associated with the East Pacific Rise that we ran over starting 20 million years ago
Cenozoic Tectonics
Several important basins and tectonic provinces are recognized in the western USA
Cenozoic Tectonics
Important Basins
1) Green River Basin 2) Uinta Basin
3) Washakie/Sandwash Basins 4) Piceance Creek Basin
1
2
3
4
Cenozoic Tectonics
1
2
3
4
Cenozoic Tectonics
Important Basins
1) Green River Basin 2) Uinta Basin
3) Washakie/Sandwash Basins 4) Piceance Creek Basin
All are rich in oil shale
1
2
3
4
Cenozoic Tectonics
Important Tectonic Provinces
http://www.huttoncommentaries.com/subs/PSResearch/Strain/Fig8.gif
Cenozoic Tectonics
1) Basin and Range
Cenozoic Tectonics
1) Basin and Range 2) Colorado Plateau
Cenozoic Tectonics
1) Basin and Range 2) Colorado Plateau 3) Columbia River Plateau
Cenozoic Tectonics
1) Basin and Range 2) Colorado Plateau 3) Columbia River Plateau 4) Rio Grande Rift
Cenozoic Tectonics
1) Basin and Range 2) Colorado Plateau 3) Columbia River Plateau
Basin and Range
Basin and Range: Uplifted deformed strata
Cenozoic Tectonics
Cenozoic Tectonics
1) Basin and Range 2) Colorado Plateau 3) Columbia River Plateau
Colorado Plateau
Cenozoic Tectonics
Colorado Plateau: Uplifted undeformed strata
Cenozoic Tectonics
• Miocene – Columbia Plateau
basalts • Up to 5 km thick
Cenozoic Tectonics
Columbia River Plateau: Basalt lava flow covered terrain
Cenozoic Tectonics
Rio Grande Rift: Uplifted rifting strata
Cenozoic Tectonics
Rio Grande Rift: Uplifted rifting strata
Cenozoic Tectonics
Other interesting Cenozoic (Recent) Tectonics: 1) Yellowstone
http://people.uwec.edu/ERICKSKM/histor1.jpg
Cenozoic Tectonics
Other interesting Cenozoic (Recent) Tectonics: 1) Yellowstone 2) Crater Lake
http://people.uwec.edu/ERICKSKM/histor1.jpg
Cenozoic Tectonics
Other interesting Cenozoic (Recent) Tectonics: 1) Yellowstone 2) Crater Lake 3) Composite Volcanoes
http://people.uwec.edu/ERICKSKM/histor1.jpg
Cenozoic Tectonics ht
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Today’s Homework 1. Time Chart 3 due Thursday April 28th
2. Study. Lecture Final May 4th 3. Online class evaluation bonus opportunity
Next Time 1. Bonus Quiz 13
2. Plio-Pleistocene climate
GY 112: Earth History
Lectures 34 and 35: Cenozoic Overview and Tectonics
Instructor: Dr. Doug Haywick
dhaywick@southalabama.edu
This is a free open access lecture, but not for commercial purposes. For personal use only.
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