1. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
CENOZOIC GEOLOGY.
EARLY CENOZOIC: ( MYBP):
Introduction: Much of the landscape as it appears today resulted from a number of "land-forming" events of the early Cenozoic.
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

2. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
Paleogene Paleogeography.
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

3. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
Appalachians and
Coastal Plains
Rockies and Great Plains
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

4. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
Gulf Coast Main area of marine transgressions and regressions during Cenozoic, this, combined with pronounced subsidence, resulted in about m of Paleogene/Neogene sediments underlying the Gulf Coast
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

5. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
East Coast
Relatively quite during the Cenozoic. The erosion of the Appalachians continued, producing subdued, rounded mountains (characteristic of ancient mountains). The coastal plain and continental shelf continued to be built from clastics in the northeast and carbonates in the southeast (Florida).
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

6. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
Low, rounded, vegetated mountain ridges in the Appalachians.
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

7. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
East coast coastal plain – dominated by coastal processes and landforms e.g. spits, barriers, beaches, marshes, etc.
Cape Fear
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

8. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
Barrier Island
Mississippi delta
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

9. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
Bahama Banks
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

10. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
Rockies Continuing uplift and erosion shaped the Rockies into rugged, sharp peaks (characteristic of youthful mountains). In some areas, large fault blocks were pushed up to form mountain ranges, such as the Tetons of Wyoming. Clastics from the erosion spread eastward, forming the Great Plains.
Tetons.
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

11. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
West Coast Tectonics
Subduction down much of the west coast stopped in the Cenozoic, as the Farallon Plate* and the east Pacific Rise* were “swallowed” by the subduction zone. Instead, a transform fault developed about 10 million years ago. Subduction continued to the north (Juan de Fuca plate) and the south (Cocos plate). A number of features are related to these plate movements…
* 1st time we’ve covered these.
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

12. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
San Andreas Fault
Cascades
Columbia Plateau
Basin and Range
Colorado Plateau
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

13. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
San Andreas Fault
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

14. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
Mt. St. Helens, 1980.
The Cascades - volcanic arc.
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

15. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
Columbia Plateau - flood basalts resulting from a hot spot.
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

16. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
Basin And Range Province Tensional forces developed in large areas of Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and South California during the Cenozoic, probably resulting from the change from subduction to transform fault along the craton margin and heat flow from subduction. The result was basin and range topography, characterized by normal faults, tilted fault blocks, grabens and horsts:
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

17. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
Range
Basin
Death Valley, California.
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

18. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
Graben and horst.
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

19. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
Tilted fault blocks.
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

20. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
Colorado Plateau
A large block of crust in the southwest remained relatively undeformed, but was uplifted during the Cenozoic (5 -10 mybp), forming the Colorado Plateau. Streams cut down into the plateau as it was lifted up, forming deep canyons, including the Grand Canyon (2600 m deep). Magma was released from faults surrounding the uplifted plateau.
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

21. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
Grand Canyon.
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

22. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
Plateaus, mesas, buttes and pinnacles formed by stream erosion of uplifted strata.
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

23. Harry Williams, Historical Geology
Tethys Seaway
Closure of the Tethys Seaway was completed during the Cenozoic. Africa collided with Europe about 40 million years ago forming the PYRENEES, between France and Spain, and the ATLAS MOUNTAINS of northwest Africa. As Africa swung around, the collision spread eastward, forming the ALPS of southern Europe. Areas of the Alps are still undergoing periodic uplift today (the collision continues). Further east, India collided with Asia about 10 million years ago, forming the HIMALAYAS (the top of Mt. Everest is marine limestone); these mountains are also continuing to rise – frequent earthquakes in India/China attest to the continuing movement.
These orogenies created a long linear zone of mountains running east – west across Europe and Asia.
Harry Williams, Historical Geology

24. Harry Williams, Historical Geology

25. Harry Williams, Historical Geology