Download The Era

The
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Era
Paleozoic __________________  the ancient geographic setting of an area
o _____________ ___________  edge of a continent along which there is no
tectonic activity
Sea Level __________ in the Rock Record
o Shoreline deposition
 sand  ____________
 clay  __________
 calcium carbonate (CaCO3)  ______________
 _________________  when sea level ____ & causes the shoreline to move
__________; results in __________-H2O deposits on top of
_____________-H2O deposits
 _________________  when sea level _____ & causes the shoreline to
move ____________; results in _____________-H2O deposits on top of
___________-H2O deposits
o Evaporites
 rocks that have crystallized out of H2O that is _________________
w/dissolved minerals
 are deposited in the ____________ behind reefs
 ______________ ____________  halite for road salt; gypsum for
plaster & drywall
 __________________  oil deposits
o Glaciation
 transgressive & regressive cycles
 glaciers ____________ sea level
Mountain Building
- _______________ Period  Taconic Orogeny (mountains in New York)
o _______________ (core of modern-day North America) deformed
 ____________ Orogeny
 collided w/Gondwana (present-day Africa & South America)
 _________________ Orogeny
 formation of the _________________ Mountains
 @ the end  ___________
Paleozoic Life
- _________________ organisms w/hard parts
o ____________ explosion
 sudden appearance of a diverse collection of organisms in the Cambrian
fossil record
o Ordovician extinction
 more than _____ the marine groups that appeared became extinct
 why?  _____________
o Devonian extinction
 new marine groups: _______, other vertebrates, _____________ on land
 another extinction  ~ _______ of marine groups
 why?  global ____________/glaciers
o Terrestrial plants
 survived extinctions (________)
 coal ___________
 plants lived in swamps, died, sediment added = ________
 large __________
o Permian Δs
 _________-___________ ________________ _________
 @ end, ____________ mass extinction ever; extinction of ~ ______
of marine life-forms
 affected marine & _______________ life
 > _______ of amphibians
 almost _______ of all insects
 why?  a combo of:
o ↓ in ______ level
o extreme _______________
o low atmospheric ___________ levels
o ________________ impact
The
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Era
Mesozoic __________________
o Breakup of __________
 middle of ____________ Period
 heat caused ______________  cracks
 climate was _________  no glaciers
o Seaways
 ocean flooded the _______ valleys
 ____________ Ocean & Mid-Atlantic Ridge formed
 Red Sea & Gulf of Aden  ________ seaways in East Africa
o Δing sea _________
 ________ in sea level @ beginning
 sea level ________ @ end of Triassic
 sea level __________ again during Jurassic & continued into Cretaceous
Mountain Building
- along Laurentia’s ________ coast (not much on east coast)
o _____________
 Spanish for “mountain range”
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phases:
st
1 phase  late ___________ & early Cretaceous
 _________, ________ subduction
 volcanism occurs near __________
 formed ___________ ____________
nd
2 phase  during _____________
 ____________, __________ subduction
 massive thrust ________
 __________ tectonic activity
 started forming _________ ______________
rd
3 phase –
 ________ Cretaceous & into Cenozoic
 very _______, very ____________ subduction
 lack of _____________
 tectonic activity moves inland w/large vertical __________
Mesozoic Life
- new __________ organisms  large predatory ___________
- ___________________  microscopic organisms that are the basis of marine food
chains; abundant during the Cretaceous & the remains of their shell-like hard parts are
found in _________ deposits worldwide
o Plant life
 tall ________ trees  seed plants w/out true ____________
 ginkgos, _______ trees, & other conifers
 ______________ plants in Cretaceous
o Terrestrial animals
 ____________ appeared in late Triassic
 ____________ were dominant
 ____________ _______  egg w/a shell, providing a complete environment
for a developing embryo
+ Dinosaurs
o most reptiles have a ______________ posture
o ________________  many dinosaurs had an __________ posture
o Mass extinction
 terrestrial dinosaurs, most marine ___________, plants, & many other
organisms
 why?  combo of:
 massive ____________ (stressed climate)
 large ______________ impact @ end of Cretaceous (@ least 10km in
diameter)
o maybe in Mexico’s ____________ Peninsula
o _____________  metal that is rare in rocks @ Earth’s
surface but is relatively common in asteroids
The
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Era
Cenozoic _________________
~ _______ of Earth’s total history (~ the last _____ million years)
o Cooling trend
 occurred when ______________ split apart from _____________ during
the Eocene
 caused by a Δ in ocean ___________
o Miocene warming
 Antarctic ice cap __________
 was ____________ in the mid/late Miocene  Arctic Ocean began to
freeze  set the stage for the ice ages
o Ice ages
 ___________ in late Pliocene & continued throughout the Pleistocene
 @ peak, glaciers up to 3km thick covered ~ ______ of Earth’s land surfaces
 glaciers:
 carved out lakes & __________
 dropped huge ___________
 left behind ____________ of clay, sand, & gravel
Cenozoic Mountain Building
- erosion wore down the __________, but uplift continued
o Subduction in the West
 Farallon Plate began a steep subduction beneath the Pacific Northwest 
for the ___________ _______________ (active volcanoes today)
 North American Plate + Pacific Plate = ______ ___________ __________
 transform boundary  little _____________
o Basin & Range Province
 in SW _______ & northern ___________
 consists of 100s of nearly _____________ mountains
 formed when stresses in Earth’s crust pulled it ________  still
continues today
o Continental collisions
 Paleocene  __________ collided w/___________
 created the _______
 Paleogene  _________ crashed into ________
 formed the _______________
o Tectonic forces continue
 are ________ now  may become __________ in future
 some think that we may have another supercontinent in ______ million years
Cenozoic Life
- clams, sea urchins, & sharks _____________ the mass extinction @ the end of the
Cretaceous
- ____________ dominated the landscape
- climate cooled in the late Eocene  ___________ appeared
- late Oligocene  grasslands & _____________
- Age of Mammals
o Ice age mammals
 late Pleistocene  _________ ____________ & _________-__________
_______
 ________ ____________  species to which modern humans belong
o Humans
- ___________  walking upright on 2 legs
- 1st bipedal humanlike primates appeared ~ _____ MYA during the late Miocene
- fossil remains of earliest modern humans (Africa) are ~ ____________ years old
 Migrations
 influenced by the ______ ________ of the late Pleistocene
 North America’s 1st inhabitants  maybe walked across the
__________ __________