• Today– GUEST LECTURER Eriks Puris– Overview Mesozoic Geology– Adding Pieces to the Collage

Figure 23.02: Divisions of the Mesozoic Era and

key geologic events

Mesozoic Geology

• Global Tectonics

• Climate

• Orogenies in Western North America

Fig. 23.03 a: Early Triassic (250 m.y.a)

Figure 23.03 b: Late Triassic (200 m.y.a)

Figure 23.03 c: Jurassic (160 m.y.a)

Figure 23.03 d: Late Jurrasic to Early Cretaceous (130 m.y.a)

Fig. 23.03 e: Late Cretaceous, End of Mesozoic (66 m.y.a)

Ice House and Green

House Worlds

W. W. Norton. After Kump et al., 1999

West Coast Orogenies

• Sonoman

• Cordillearan– Nevadan– Sevier– Laramide

Figure 23.10 : Sonoman Orogeny

•Late Permian-Early Tertiary •250-225 m.y.a.•Westward Subduction•Accreation of Sonomia

Figure 23.10: Nevadan Orogeny

•Late Jurrassic •160-140 m.y.a.•Eastward Subduction•Granite Batholiths

Fig. 23.11: Sierra Nevada Mountains

Figure 23.10: Sevier and Laramide Orogenies

Figure 23.12b: Sevier orogeny deformation

Fig. 23.12 a: Mountains in Sevier thrust belt

Figure 23.14: Buoyant subduction model for the Laramide orogeny

Sevier and Laramide Orogenies

• Late Cretaceous– Sevier 100-80 m.y.a.– Laramide 80-60 m.y.a.

• Continued Eastward Subduction

• Fold and thrust belts

• Basement Uplifts

• Don’t Fit Simple Plate Tectonic Model

• Shallow Subduction?

Fig.23.09: Growth of West

Coast

Crustal terranes in the Cordillera

Adding Pieces to the Collage

• Module 6

• Northwest Origins Burke Museum

• North Cascades Geology

For Monday 11/29

• Reading-Chapter 24