1. Ancient environments Central Kansas - 80 Ma

2. Setting the Stage: Major Erosional/Depositional ‘Provinces’

3. Understanding the distant past by reconstructing: Ancient environments Ancient climates Ancient life Ancient ecosystems “The present is the key to the past.” “The past is the key to the present.”

4. Ancient Environments Paleoenvironment A past environment (i.e., meandering stream, delta, ocean basin) that existed in a given area. Determined through the study of: modern depositional systems rocks & enclosing structures biological remains (fossils)

5. Paleoenvironment Present-Day environments ? Yazoo River Aerial viewCross section

6. Paleoenvironment Present-Day environments ? Mississippi Delta Aerial viewCross section

7. Paleoenvironment Present-Day environments ? Outer Banks Aerial viewCross section

8. Clues Within the Sediment I Minerals? Grain size? Grain sphericity? Grain sorting? Matrix?

9. Clues Within the Sediment II Planar Bedding Cross Bedding Imbrication Graded Bedding Cut and Fill Ripple Bedding

10. Which way did the current flow?

11. Graded Bedding in a modern stream deposit Ancient Stream Deposit

12. Paleoenvironment The Geological record Paleozoic deltaic deposits in Tennessee

13. Paleoenvironment The Geological record Paleozoic meandering stream deposits in Pennsylvania

14. Paleoenvironment The Geological record Eocene barrier island deposits in South Carolina

15. Paleoenvironment The Biological Record Wright whale 40 Ma whale skeleton, Egypt

16. Ancient Climates Paleoclimate Determined through the study of: modern climate rocks & associated structures/fossils chemistry Temperature, humidity, rainfall, etc. in a given area during a particular ancient time interval.

17. Climate Present-Day Climates? Alpine/Polar (glaciers) Desert (dune fields)

18. Paleoclimate The Geological Record Desert (aeolean sandstone) Alpine/Polar (morraines)

19. Paleoclimate The Biological Record woolly mammoth trees & other plants

20. Paleoclimate Chemical records foraminifera Ice cores Scallops & other mollusks

21. Temperature Fluctuation Based on O-18 analyses Chemical records – oxygen 18

22. Sea Level Fluctuation Based on O-18 analyses

23. North America during last glacial maximum ~ 21 Ka

24. During the: Ord = Ordovician P/T = Permo-Triassic Cretac = Cretaceous PETM = Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum LGM – Last Glacial Maximum LIA - Little Ice Age Paleogeographic map & Paleotemperature distributions

25. Ancient Life Paleontology Life that existed during a particular time interval in the distant past. Understanding gained through the: examination of preserved remains (fossils) comparison to living organisms

26. Paleontology Types of Fossils Body Fossils Molds & Casts Carbon Films

27. Paleontology Present-Day Equivalents? Tiger skull Scallop dragonfly

28. Ancient Ecologies Paleoecology Interactions among living organisms living within a particular ancient environment. Understanding gained through the: study of modern ecologies examination of fossils

29. Ecology Great Barrier Reef, Australia

30. Reconstructing Paleoecology Niobrara Formation (85 Ma), Kansas Study Rock Exposures

31. Reconstructing Paleoecology Niobrara Sea (85 Ma), North America Determine Depositional Environment

32. Reconstructing Paleoecology Collect and Study Fossils Plesiosaur Ammonite Mosasaur

33. Niobrara Sea (85 Ma), Kansas

34. Paleobiology “Fish-within-a-fish” – Niobrara Formation (85 Ma), Kansas Study of the mode of life of organisms (i.e., how big an animal grew, how it moved, what it ate)

35. Paleobiology Pierre Sea (72 Ma), South Dakota

36. Paleobiology Pierre Sea (72 Ma), South Dakota

37. Paleobiology/Paleoecology Baby mammoth – permafrost (40 Ka), Siberia, Russian Federation