At only 66 million years long,

1
Cenozoic -The development of the Earth as we know
it today

• At only 66 million years long,
• the Cenozoic is only 1.4 of all geologic time

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Age of Ocean Basins Is Well Constrained
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The Circum-Pacific Orogenic Belt
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Geological Provinces of the U.S
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The North American Cordillera

• The North American Cordillera is one large
  segment of the circum-Pacific orogenic belt
  extending from Alaska to central Mexico
• In the United States it widens to 1200 km,
  stretching east-west from the eastern flank of
  the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean

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Cordilleran Mobile Belt
Antler Orogeny in Devonian
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Change from Subduction

• As the North American Plate overrode the
  PacificFarallon Ridge, its margin became
  transform faults
• the San Andreas
• and the Queen Charlotte
• alternating with subduction zones

8
Plate Interactions Continue

• http//earth.geol.ksu.edu/sgao/research/data/seisw
  us/example1.gif

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The Laramide Orogeny

• Most active in Late Cretaceous to Eocene
• Formation of the Rockies

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Cascade Range

• Some of the highest mountains in the Cordillera
  are the Cascades
• California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia
• Thousands of volcanic vents are present
• dozen large volcanoes
• Lassen Peak in California
• world's largest lava dome
• Related to subduction of the Juan de Fuca plate

http//www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/resedu/
resedu2a.htm
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Colorado Plateau
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Colorado Plateau

• Paleozoic rocks exposed in the Grand Canyon,
  Arizona

• Mesozoic sedimentary rocks in the Valley of the
  Gods, Utah

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The Continental Interior

• A vast area called the Interior Lowlands
• the Great Plains
• and the Central Lowlands

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The Southern and Eastern Continental Margins

• The Atlantic Coastal Plain and the Gulf Coastal
  Plain form a continuous belt from the
  Northeastern United States to Texas

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Coastal Plain Similarities

• Both areas have horizontal or gently
  seaward-dipping strata deposited mostly on land
  or in shallow water them
• Seaward of the coastal plains lie the continental
  shelf, slope and rise, which are areas of notable
  Mesozoic and Cenozoic deposition

http//www.missgeo.com/directors20-20mail.htm
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Gulf-Coastal-Plain Deposition

• Cenozoic Deposition on the Gulf Coastal Plain

• Depositional provinces and surface geology

Cross section showing seaward thickening O
strata

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Global climate of the Cenozoic was controlled by
plate motions, and associated changes in ocean
circulation, and by glaciation in Antarcitca
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The Ice Volume Record for the Cenozoic

• Isotope record records ocean temperature and ice
  volume
• Eustatic record derived from seismic
  stratigraphic studies
• When did glaciation begin?

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Pleistocene Fluctuations
You Are Here!
Northern Hemisphere Glaciation Cyclicity
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Closing of the Isthmus of Panama

• Shut off E/W global ocean flow
• American plates collided 3.5 Ma

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This may have resulted in glaciation in the
northern hemisphere
Caribbean warms Gulf Stream moves warm water
north Increases ocean evaporation and
precipitation on land
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The Last Glacial Maximum