White areas represent sequences of rocks Cratonic Sequences of North America that are separate d by large- scale uncon- formities shown in brown

During the Triassic Period Paleogeography of the World

Jurassic

During the Late Cretaceous Period Paleogeography of the World

Evaporites accumulated in shallow basins – as Pangaea broke apart during the Early Mesozoic – Water from the Tethys Sea flowed into the Central Atlantic Ocean Early Mesozoic Evaporites

Marine water flowed into the southern Atlantic Ocean from the south Thick Southern Ocean Evaporites

Late Cretaceous note the seaway in central US

The world's climates result from the complex interaction between – wind and ocean currents – and the location and topography of the continents In general, dry climates occur – on large landmasses – in areas remote from sources of moisture – and where barriers to moist air exist, – such as mountain ranges Wet climates occur – near large bodies of water – or where winds can carry moist air over land Ocean Currents and Continents

Widespread Triassic evaporites, red beds, and desert dunes: such as Zion National Park which began in the Jurassic – in the low and middle latitudes – of North and South America, Europe, and Africa – indicate dry climates in those regions, while coal deposits – are found mainly in the high latitudes, – indicating humid conditions These high-latitude coals are analogous to – today's Scottish peat bog – or Canadian muskeg Evaporites, Red Beds, Dunes, Coal

Newark and Hartford Basins form Widespread igneous intrusions Areas where Triassic fault-block basin deposits crop out in eastern North America

This sill was one of many that were intruded into the Newark sediments – during the Late Triassic rifting – that marked the separation – of North America from Africa Palisades Sill of the Hudson River

Reptile Tracks Reptile tracks in the Triassic Newark Group – were uncovered during the excavation – for a new state building in Hartford, Connecticut Because the tracks were so spectacular, – the building side was moved – and the excavation was designated as a state park

Mesozoic Cephalapods

White Cliffs of Dover, UK

Lived and died in clear warm seas that covered much of Britain around 70 to 100 million years ago. When they died, they fell to the bottom in a rain of fine white mud. As chalk formed from the mud, layers and lumps of hard, glassy flint also developed - prized by stone-age man for tools.

Latimeria – belongs to a group of fish once thought to have gone extinct at the end of the Mesozoic Era – A specimen was caught off the coast of East Africa in 1938 – Since then many more have been captured Living Fossil

Reptiles and Birds

All dinosaurs possess a number of shared characteristics, such as full and upright posture with limbs directly beneath their bodies yet differ enough for us to recognize two distinct orders, the Saurischia and Ornithischia A distinctive pelvic structure characterizes each order

Cladogram showing dinosaur relationships – showing pelvises of ornithischians and saurischians – Among the several subgroups of dinosaurs Dinosaur Cladogram theropods were carnivores and all others were herbivores

Missoula, MT Museum of the Rockies Jack Horner, curator

Dinosaur Provincial ParkAlberta, Canada

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1966 Tracks discovered during construction project in Rocky Hill, CT 2066 Tracks discovered near Rocky Hill, CT

Top events of the Cenozoic 65 mya Cretaceous Sea dries up Subtropical climate in US Plate tectonics moves to the Western US Farallon Plate subducts under N.A. Today remnants are allegedly found under the eastern US uplift of the western states flow of the Colorado River formation of Grand Canyon begins

Formation of Panama – central America animals unique to N and S America now migrate and compete only one marsupial in NA Camels, horses, sloths Australopithecines evolve before 1.8 mya Large mammals such as mammoths, mastodons, saber tooth cats, dwell in cooling NA Species of homo habilis and ancestors of homo sapiens evolve. Neanderthal Humans ice age over 1 my

Nov Asteroid YU55 passes Earth inside of moon’s orbit 860,000 miles from Earth

A preliminary orbit calculation shows that 2012 DA14 has a very Earth-like orbit with a period of days, just one more day than our terrestrial year, and it ‘jumps’ inside and outside of the path of Earth two times per year. While an impact with Earth has been ruled out on the asteroid’s next visit, astronomers will use that close approach for more studies and calculate the Earth and Moon’s gravitational effects on it. (Credit: Deimos-Space) Yellow: asteroid around sun Green: Earth orbit around sun Orbit of DA16 = Earth days Orbit of Earth =

It’s back….Feb. 15 th, 2013 cannot pass closer than 3.2 Earth radii – about 17,000 miles