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.