The Mesozoic Era

Landwehrs, J., Feulner, G., Petri, S., Sames, B., & Wagreich, M. (2021). Investigating Mesozoic climate trends and sensitivities with a large ensemble of climate model simulations. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 36, e2020PA004134. https://doi. org/10.1029/2020PA004134 Gernon, T.M., Mills, B.J.W., Hincks, T.K. et al. Solid Earth forcing of Mesozoic oceanic anoxic events. Nat. Geosci. 17, 926–935 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01496-0

References

• OAEs would last around 1.5 million years each
• OAEs commonly occurred from 183-85 million years ago
• The Mesozoic climate would be slighlty cooler in the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous periods
• The Rifting of Pangea began in the Triassic period

The Mesozoic had multiple Oceanic anoxic events (OAE); which are phases of oxygen depletion in Earth’s oceans. It is widely accepted that OAEs are linked to global warming (Gernon et al.). The oxygen depletion caused by OAEs caused massive ecological changes and, sometimes, mass extinctions. For example, the Torcian OAE saw a “~70% reduction in the diversity of some benthic fauna” (Gernon et al.).

The Mesozoic Earth had a warm climate with no major glaciations. The Mesozoic era was also characterized by the rise and fall of the dinosaurs; and Oceanic anoxic events (OAE) that heavily impacted marine ecosytems

world

Time

The Mesozioic Era happened About 252 to 66 million years ago The Mesozioic Era contained the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods.

EVents

Facts

the mesozoic era