December 9, 2009

Reading Ch. 15 (Cenozoic History) Final Exam date: TU, Dec. 15

• Material covered: Ch. 13, 14, 15, 16(?) + movie

Firefighters rescue boy with tongue stuck to post

BOISE, Idaho — It’s become an annual winter tale: A young boy gets his tongue stuck to a metal pole, perhaps as the result of a dare. This year, the scene straight out of the movie “A Christmas Story” unfolded Tuesday morning in Boise with a boy of about 10. Boise firefighters used a glass of warm water to free the unidentified boy from the metal fence pole, according to the Idaho Statesman newspaper. Fire Capt. Bill Tinsley says the boy’s tongue was bleeding a little, but he was OK and allowed to continue walking to school. Rescue workers responded after a woman driving by saw the boy and called police dispatchers. Last year, the unlucky boy was a 10-year-old from Hammond, Indiana — especially apt, since the 1983 movie is set in a fictional city based on Hammond.

Cenozoic Era Remaining 65 my

• Only 1.5% of time

Better fossil record• More divisions

http://www.bgs.ac.uk/Education/britstrat/cenozoic.htmlhttp://hoopermuseum.earthsci.carleton.ca/evolution/equidae/cenozoicera.html

Early Cenozoic (Paleocene & Eocene)

Laramide orogeny (#3 of Cordilleran)

• Formed intermontane basinsCoal swamps (Ex: Powder River Basin)Limestones (Ex: Bryce Canyon, UT)Shales (Ex: Green River Fmn, WY)

sec.edgar-online.com/.../05/10/Section5.aspxhttp://geoinfo.nmt.edu/tour/state/storrie_lake/home.htmlhttp://from50000feet.wordpress.com/2007/12/17/dolan-media-pre-christmas-rush/

Bryce Canyon

Green River Fmn

Mid-Late Cenozoic

(Oligocene & Miocene)

Change of subduction angle• Volcanism intensified again• Ash deposits prevalent

Ex: San Juan Mtns, COEx: Badlands, SD

• Meanwhile, Rockies getting buried by basin filling

http://www.scenicusa.net/010906.html

Badlands, SD

San Juan Mtns, CO

Late Cenozoic (Miocene & Pliocene)

Change in plate motion• Convergent to transform

San Andreas fault

• Basin and Range province formed

Rifting due to hot spot• Columbia R. basalts

Uplifting• Colorado Plateau• Rocky Mtns uncovered

http://www.fas.org/irp/imint/docs/rst/Sect6/Sect6_8.htmlhttp://www.naturalphotos.com/sekercioglu/colorado_plateau/pages/ARZ1-Clrd-Horseshoe.htm

Cenozoic Events on other Continents

Europe-Africa collision• Closing of Tethys ocean• Alps & Pyrenees Mtns• East Africa rifts

India-Asia collision• Himalayan Mtns

Antarctica chilled

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/zenpeace/leh_ladakh/1184149500/100_3860.jpg/tpod.html

Cenozoic Climate Early greenhouse climate

http://www.geo.arizona.edu/Antevs/ecol438/lect07.htmlhttp://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/colloquia/20050121.htm

http://www7430.nrlssc.navy.mil/7432/hydrates/background.htm

Eocene warm peak• Evidence

Oxygen isotopes Leaf features Cold water extinctions

• Cause Methane hydrates