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Mesozoic Era (Age of the Dinosaurs)

Mesozoic Era (Age of the Dinosaurs). Three Periods Triassic Jurassic Cretaceous. MESOZOIC ERA. KNOWN AS THE MIDDLE ERA TIMEFRAME: Occurred between 248 to 65 million years ago. IMPORTANT EVENT. Time marked by rapid movements of plates

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Mesozoic Era (Age of the Dinosaurs)

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  1. Mesozoic Era(Age of the Dinosaurs) Three Periods Triassic Jurassic Cretaceous

  2. MESOZOIC ERA • KNOWN AS THE MIDDLE ERA • TIMEFRAME: Occurred between 248 to 65 million years ago

  3. IMPORTANT EVENT Time marked by rapid movements of plates A major geologic event of the Mesozoic was the break-up of the super continent of Pangaea into several large continents. HAD WARM CLIMATE

  4. Mesozoic EraTriassic Period(225-180 MYA) Pangaea (supercontinent) existed

  5. PANGAEA

  6. LAND (GEOLOGICAL) FEATURES THAT FIRST APPEARE:

  7. Mesozoic EraCretaceous Period(135-65 MYA) Flower plants CALLED (angiosperms) 1ST APPEARED

  8. ANIMALS/ORGANISMS (BIOLOGICAL) FEATURES THAT FIRST APPEARED:

  9. Mesozoic EraTriassic Period(225-180 MYA) First Dinosaurs (small in size) Pisanosaurus Length:3 feet Height:1 foot Weight:15 pounds Eoraptor: Length:3 feetHeight: 1 footWeight:20 pounds

  10. Mesozoic EraJurassic Period(180-135 MYA) Pangaea starts to separate

  11. Mesozoic EraJurassic Period(180-135 MYA) 1st mammals (small rodents).

  12. Mesozoic EraJurassic Period(180-135 MYA) 1st birds (Archaeopteryx). • Jaws and bone structure like dinosaurs • Bones are hollow, like birds • Had feathers

  13. Mesozoic EraJurassic Period(180-135 MYA) Reptiles in the sea - Icthyosaurs – 8 m; Plesiosaurs – 15 m.

  14. ANIMALS/ORGANISMS (BIOLOGICAL) & GEOLOGICAL FEATURES THAT BECAME DOMINANT

  15. Mesozoic EraJurassic Period(180-135 MYA) Dinosaurs BECAME DOMINANT

  16. Mesozoic EraCretaceous Period(135-65 MYA)

  17. Mesozoic EraCretaceous Period(135-65 MYA) Continents in modern positions

  18. Mesozoic EraTriassic Period(225-180 MYA) GYMNOSPERMS BECAME DOMINANT

  19. WHAT CATASTROPHIC EVENT CAUSED THE MASS EXTINCTION?

  20. MASS EXTINCTION • Asteroids, METEORITE, or Comets collided into the Earth AND CAUSED Mass Extinction

  21. How could a meteorite impact cause a mass extinction? • The impact caused shock waves, tidal waves, and sent a tremendous amount of dust into the atmosphere • As the dust re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, it would have instantly heated the atmosphere causing tremendous forest fires • Dust from impact blocked out the sun and caused major climate change and plants to die • Plants, animals, etc. went extinct due to the climate changes and competition between organisms

  22. Mesozoic EraCretaceous Period(135-65 MYA) Mass Extinction: 50% of all plant and animal groups die out Alvarez’s Meteor Impact Theory- 10 km wide meteorite hits Earth

  23. Scientists now have fresh evidence that such a cosmic impact ended the age of dinosaurs near what is now the town of Chixculub in Mexico.

  24. Mesozoic EraCretaceous Period(135-65 MYA) • Evidence of Impact: Iridium • An element that is very rare in Earth rocks and very common in meteorites • The layer of rocks above the last dinosaur bones contain ~ 160x normal levels of iridium • Called the K/T Boundary

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