Carboniferous
- The majority of the coal used as fuel today comes from the remains of the Carboniferous
- The majority of smaller, separate continents merged, creating the latest and best-known supercontinent, Pangaea
- The subperiods the Carboniferous is divided into were due to disagreements from North American and European geologists
- The period ended with the Carboniferous rainforest collapse, a minor extinction event which separated the nearly global forest into smaller regions
Major event
The Carboniferous rainforest collapse occurred largely due to climate change and the effects of the tectonic activity that created Pangaea, drying out areas that were once close enough to the oceans to thrive as tropical rainforest.
Period Summary
Named for the amount of carbon-rich coal produced by the decomposition of widespread swamps and forests, the Carboniferous was a period with a somewhat more tropical climate than that of today. This, combined with low sea levels due to large ice caps, allowed for an abundance of tropical wetlands. After the Late Devonian extinction, a sharp rise occurred in the quantity of plant life, leading to an oxygen-rich environment in which the Earth's largest arthropods thrived, such as "dog-sized scorpions and millipedes as long as a king-sized bed" (Dutfield). However, this was also the same time period that the first tetrapod vertebrates, such as salamanders, grew in large numbers, in part due to the development of the amniote egg that could survive outside of water.
Carboniferous Period
358.9-298.9 million years ago
5th period of the Paleozoic era
Consisted of the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian subperiods
SOURCES
Preceded by the Devonian, succeeded by the Permian
Sources
Dutfield, Scott. "JOURNEY TO THE Carboniferous Period." How It Works Magazine, no. 157, 15 Oct. 2021, pp. 68+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A686899225/ITOF?u=orla57816&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=df5c8397. Accessed 17 Feb. 2024.
Torsvik, Trond H., and L. Robin M. Cocks. “Carboniferous.” Earth History and Palaeogeography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016. 159–177. Print.
Carboniferous
Martin DeVerter
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Transcript
Carboniferous
Major event
The Carboniferous rainforest collapse occurred largely due to climate change and the effects of the tectonic activity that created Pangaea, drying out areas that were once close enough to the oceans to thrive as tropical rainforest.
Period Summary
Named for the amount of carbon-rich coal produced by the decomposition of widespread swamps and forests, the Carboniferous was a period with a somewhat more tropical climate than that of today. This, combined with low sea levels due to large ice caps, allowed for an abundance of tropical wetlands. After the Late Devonian extinction, a sharp rise occurred in the quantity of plant life, leading to an oxygen-rich environment in which the Earth's largest arthropods thrived, such as "dog-sized scorpions and millipedes as long as a king-sized bed" (Dutfield). However, this was also the same time period that the first tetrapod vertebrates, such as salamanders, grew in large numbers, in part due to the development of the amniote egg that could survive outside of water.
Carboniferous Period
358.9-298.9 million years ago
5th period of the Paleozoic era
Consisted of the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian subperiods
SOURCES
Preceded by the Devonian, succeeded by the Permian
Sources
Dutfield, Scott. "JOURNEY TO THE Carboniferous Period." How It Works Magazine, no. 157, 15 Oct. 2021, pp. 68+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A686899225/ITOF?u=orla57816&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=df5c8397. Accessed 17 Feb. 2024.
Torsvik, Trond H., and L. Robin M. Cocks. “Carboniferous.” Earth History and Palaeogeography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016. 159–177. Print.