Mesozoic Facts

Began 245 million years ago and ended 66 million years ago. Four stage breakup of Pangaea was the major mesozoic geologic event. Following the late permian major extinction organisms slowly recovered. "Age of the reptiles"

Three Mesozoic periods

Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous.

Breakup of Pangaea Stage 1

Late Triassic rifting between Laurasia and Gondwana. By the end of the Triassic the expanding atlantic ocean separated north america from africa. During the late triassic and the early jurassic rifting separated north america and south america.

Breakup of Pangaea Stage 2

Late Triassic and early jurassic breakup and movement of the various Gondwana continents. Antarctica and Australia separated from south america and africa. India split away from other four Gondwana continents and began moving northward.

Breakup of Pangaea Stage 3

Late Jurrassic rifting began between south america and africa. Created a narrow and restricted seaway between the two continents. Eastern end of the Tethys Sea began closing due to a clockwise rotation of Laurasia and northward movement of africa. Present-day mediterranean sea is the last piece of this ocean and its still closing.

Breakup of Pangaea Stage 4

Occuring during the Cenozoic and is still ongoing. Australia moving northward. Greenland became completely separated from Europe and rifted from north america to form a separated landmass.

Eastern Coastal Region

As the atlantic ocean grew, rifting ceased. Became a passive continental margin. Previouslt lofty appalachian mountains eroded to a flat plain by the early cretaceous. The appalachian region re-elevated in the late cretaceous and shed sediments onto the continental shelf.

Gulf Coastal Region

North america separated from south america during the late triassic, the guld of mexica began to form. more than 1000m of evaporties formed in the gulf in the late triassic due to restricted inflow of water into the narrow sea, high evaporation rates, and source for the tertiary salt domes.