The Jurassic Period

The Jurassic Period

What was it like?

Major Event

Facts

The Rise of Dinosaurs as Dominant Land Animals

During this event dinosaurs diversified at a very rapid pace. becoming very dominant terrestrial vertebrates. This was mainly due to the extinction of the many different triassic reptiles at the end of the previous period. this gave dinosaurs a chance to thirive in many different environemntsAnother very important part of the Jurassic Period was the Evolution of birds from theropod dinosaurs, this was one of the most significant evolutionary transitions in earths history. The Archaeopteryx was discorverd in limestone, it had feathers, wings, teeth, and a bony tail showing a clear link in dinosaurs and birds.

What was it like?

During the Jurassic Period it was a very warm and humid climate, with very highsea levels and no polar ice caps. The seas were very shallow, covering parts of continents, this created a very lush coastal environment and swampy inland areas. During this time the atmosphere was very rich in Carbon Dioxide, this contruibtuted to the greenhouse gases allowing tropical forests flourish world wide. Also during this time the tectonic activity caused the supercontinent pangea to split, forming laurasia in the North and Gondwana in the South, because of this shift it had created new coastlines and new isolated environments, helping drive the evolution of many new species.

Organisms that lived

• Apatosaurus - long neck, reach over 75 feet in length
• Stegosaurus - known for armored plates spikey tail
• Allosaurus - top predator, smaller than T-rex
• Pterosaurus - Flying Reptiles
• Archaeopteryx - the first birds

Fun facts

• The Jurassic had no grass , herbavors had fed on ferns, cycads, and conifers
• "The Deseado Massif (DM), a geological province located in southern Patagonia within the Santa Cruz Province (Argentina), shows a well-preserved geological record since early Paleozoic times (Fig. 1), which represents a key element to unravel the Gondwana breakup.
• "The Late Triassic-Jurassic is dominated by marine facies and marine - continental transitional facies. "
• The marine - continental transitional facies include deltaic and tidal-lagoon facies.
• Marine facies including gentle carbonate slope, evaporative platform, restricted platform, littoral, neritic, bathyal and abysmal facies.
• The Morrison Formation in North America is one of the most richest fossil beds from the Jurassic Period.
• The CO2 levels were nearly 5 time higher than today, fueling rapid plant growth.
• The Jurassic is when the rectonic rifting began to shape the Atlantic Ocean.

Library Refrences

• Ruiz González, V et al. “Deformation along the Deseado Massif (Patagonia, Argentina) during the Jurassic Period and Its Relationship with the Gondwana Breakup: Paleomagnetic and Geochronological Constraints.” Tectonophysics 834 (2022): n. pag. Web.
• LIU, Ruohan et al. “The Sedimentary Evolution During Late Triassic‐Jurassic Period and the Hydrocarbon Exploration Direction in the Eastern Part of the Qiangtang Basin, Tibet.” Acta geologica Sinica (Beijing) 94.S1 (2020): 35–35. Web.