The period is named for rock strata found in the Jura Mountains on the border between Switzerland and France.ĭuring the Jurassic, the supercontinent Pangaea began to break apart. The Jurassic period is the second of the three divisions of the Mesozoic era, "The Age of Reptiles." The Jurassic lasted for 64 million years, from about 208 to 144 million years ago. See also Archean Cambrian Period Cenozoic Era Dating methods Devonian Period Eocene Epoch Evolution, evidence of Fossil record Fossils and fossilization Geologic time Historical geology Holocene Epoch Marine transgression and marine recession Miocene Epoch Mississippian Period Oligocene Epoch Ordovician Period Paleocene Epoch Paleozoic Era Pennsylvanian Period Phanerozoic Eon Pleistocene Epoch Pliocene Epoch Precambrian Proterozoic Era Quaternary Period Silurian Period Supercontinents Tertiary Period Many prominent oil-fields date to the Jurassic Period (e.g., the North Sea fields). The abundant life of the Jurassic Period also left a legacy of organic remains that today provide an economically important source of fossil fuels. A trio of impacts in areas now located in South Africa, the Barents Sea, and Australia occurred near the end of the Jurassic Period and start of the Cretaceous Period.Īlthough humans and dinosaurs never co-existed -in fact they are separated by approximately 63 million yeas of evolutionary time -the Jurassic Period's wealth of fossils have long stirred human imagination about life on Earth during that time. The Manicouagan impact in crust now near Quebec, Canada, dates to the late Triassic Period just before the start of the Jurassic Period. During the Jurassic Period itself, there is evidence of only one major impact -the Puchezh impact in Russia. Large meteor impacts occurred at the start and end of the Jurassic Period (and later intensified during the subsequent Cretaceous Period ). The Jurassic Period (in popular culture widely recognized as the "Age of the Dinosaurs") was named for the Jura Mountains on the Swiss-French border, an area where the classic formations were first identified and studied. The Antarctic continent began a slow southward migration toward the south polar region. Extensive flooding submerged much of what are now the eastern and middle portions of the United States.īy the end of the Jurassic Period, water separated South America from Africa, and the Australian and Antarctic continents were clearly articulated. By mid-Jurassic Period, although still united along a broad region, what would become the South American and African Plates and continents became distinguishable in a form similar to the modern continents.īy the end of the Jurassic Period, North America and South America became separated by a confluence of the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean. Driven by plate tectonics during the Jurassic Period, the North American and European continents diverged, and the earliest form of the Atlantic Ocean flooded the spreading sea floor basin between the emerging continents. At the start of Jurassic Period, Pangaea spanned Earth's equatorial regions and separated the Panthalassic Ocean and the Tethys Ocean. The latest epoch (most recent), the Maim Epoch, ranges from 159 mya to 144 mya and is further subdivided into (from earliest to most recent) Oxfordian, Kimmeridgian, and Tithonian stages.ĭuring the Jurassic Period, the Pangaean supercontinent broke into continents recognizable as the modern continents. ![]() The middle epoch, the Dogger Epoch, ranges from 180 mya to 159 mya and is further subdivided into (from earliest to most recent) Aalenian, Bajocian, Bathonian, and Callovian stages. The Lias Epoch is further subdivided into (from earliest to most recent) Hettangian, Sinemurian, Pliensbachian, and Toarcian stages. The earliest epoch, the Lias Epoch, ranges from the start of the Jurassic Period to approximately 180 mya. ![]() The Jurassic Period contains three geologic epochs. ![]() In geologic time, the Jurassic Period -the middle of three geologic periods in the Mesozoic Era -spans the time from roughly 206 –208 million years ago (mya) to approximately 146 mya.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |