ERTH 2401 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Geochronology, Mesozoic, Red Beds
20 Sep 2016
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Also trees, coal ends, sediments (evaporated), flora/fauna, glacial indicators lakes, deep valley. Also, geochemical evidence soils and isotopic data. Picture of conifer log indicator of climate change. Low sea level increased exposure of land; lots of erosion. Change in ocean currents due to large land mass. 1 large land mass, 1 large ocean change in climate. Continental effect; more extreme weather (cold winters, extremely hot summers) rapid warming and cooling dinosaurs had to adapt to the environment. Influence on biota: decrease in species diversity, opening of migration routes, similarity between biota (biota: total collection of organisms in a geographic region at a period of time) Triassic chinle formation: white areas = volcanic ash built up; forming first rift phase rifting leads to volcanic activity which produces ash; important b/c these ash piles are filled with datable minerals can determine geochronological age. Year-round dry belt at the equator (equatorial) not much to eat for the dinosaurs.
