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Transcript
Cenozoic Tectonics & Life Subduction in the West • At the end of the Eocene Period, the last of the oceanic Farallon Plate subducted beneath the Pacific Northwest. • As a result the Cascade Mountains formed along with the volcanoes that remain active today Subduction in the West • As the Farallon Plate disappeared completely under California. • North American plate came into contact with the Pacific Plate moving in different directions, the San Andreas Fault formed. • Because of this there is little volcanic activity beneath central and southern California Continental Collisions • Pangaea's final break up took place during the early Cenozoic Period. • Some continents separated, others were brought together. Continental Collisions • Africa collided with Eurasia creating the Alps. • The ocean that separated Laurasia from Gondwanaland today make up the Black, Caspian, Aral, and Mediterranean Seas. • India colliding with Asia created the Himalayas Tectonic Forces in the Future • Plate tectonics have shaped the Earth for the past 4.56 billion years. • Scientists supect that in 250 million years the Atlantic Ocean • NOPE Cenozoic Life • Many marine organisms such as clams, sea urchins, and sharks survived the mass extinction of the Cretaceous Period. • On land forests dominated the early landscape. • As the climate cooled forests gave way to grasses and grassy savannas Cenozoic Life • The rise of grasslands led to the diversification of new mammals. • Since mammals were dominant during this era, scientists call the Cenozoic “the Age of Mammals” Ice Age Mammals • As the ice age began, animals evolved in the northern latitudes. • Two of the most famous woolly mammoth and saber toothed cat roamed earth, along with modern humans. Humans • Defining characteristic of humans is their bipedal locomotion (walk on 2 feet) • The fossil record shows that the first bipedal primates appeared 6 mya • The earliest modern human was found in Africa 195,000 years old Migrations • Migrations of humans were the result of the ice age • During the ice age humans were able to cross continents as most oceans were froizen.
