Historical Geology: Understanding Our Planet's Past

321 Pages·2002·18.845 MB·English

by  Jon Erickson

Historical Geology
Understanding our planet’s past
Jon erickson
Foreword by Peter D. Moore, PH.D.
HISTORICAL GEOLOGY
Understanding Our Planet’s Past
Copyright © 2002 by Jon Erickson
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Erickson,Jon,1948–
Historical geology :understanding our planet’s past / Jon Erickson ;
forewordbyPeter D.Moore.
p.cm.—(The living earth)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8160-4726-X (acid-free paper)
1.Historical geology.I.Title.
QE28.3.E73 2002
551.7—dc21 2001023055
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CONTENTS
Tables vi
Acknowledgments vii
Foreword ix
Introduction xi
1 PLANET EARTH:
ORIGIN OF LAND AND LIFE
The Solar System nThe Protoearth nThe Moon n
The Atmosphere nThe Ocean nThe Emergence of Life 1
2 ARCHEAN ALGAE:
THE AGE OF EARLY LIFE
The Age of Algae nThe Protozoans n Photosynthesis n
Greenstone Belts nArchean Cratons 23
3 PROTEROZOIC METAZOANS:
THE AGE OF COMPLEX ORGANISMS
The Age of Worms nThe Ediacaran Fauna n
Banded Iron Formations n Precambrian Glaciation n
The Continental Crust 45
4 CAMBRIAN INVERTEBRATES:
THE AGE OF SHELLY FAUNAS
The Cambrian Explosion nThe Age of Trilobites n
Cambrian Paleontology nThe Burgess Shale Fauna n Gondwana 66
5 ORDOVICIAN VERTEBRATES:
THE AGE OF SPINAL LIFE-FORMS
The Jawless Fish n Fauna and Flora nThe Ordovician Ice Age n
The Iapetus Sea nThe Caledonian Orogeny 85
6 SILURIAN PLANTS:
THE AGE OF TERRESTRIAL FLORAS
The Age of Seaweed nThe Reef Builders nThe Land Invasion n
Laurasia 104
7 DEVONIAN FISH:
THE AGE OF MARINE ANIMALS
The Age of Fish n Marine Invertebrates nTerrestrial Vertebrates n
The Old Red Sandstone 123
8 CARBONIFEROUS AMPHIBIANS:
THE AGE OF FOREST DENIZENS
The Amphibian Era nThe Great Coal Forests n Fossil Fuels n
Carboniferous Glaciation n Pangaea 142
9 PERMIAN REPTILES:
THE AGE OF DESERT INHABITANTS
The Reptilian Era n Mammal-like Reptiles n
The Appalachian Orogeny n Late Paleozoic Glaciation n
Mass Extinction 159
10 TRIASSIC DINOSAURS:
THE AGE OF BIG BEASTS
The Dinosaur Era nThe Tethyan Fauna n
The New Red Sandstone nTriassic Basalts 177
11 JURASSIC BIRDS:
THE AGE OF FLYING CREATURES
The Early Birds nThe Pterosaurs nThe Giant Dinosaurs n
The Breakup of Pangaea n Marine Transgression 196
12 CRETACEOUS CORALS:
THE AGE OF TROPICAL BIOTA
The Ammonite Era nThe Angiosperms nThe Laramide Orogeny n
Cretaceous Warming nThe Inland Seas nAn Asteroid Impact 215
13 TERTIARY MAMMALS:
THE AGE OF ADVANCED SPECIES
The Mammalian Era n Marine Mammals nTertiary Volcanics n
Cenozoic Mountain Building nTertiary Tectonics n
Closing of the Tethys 234
14 QUATERNARY GLACIATION:
THE AGE OF MODERN LIFE
The Human Era nThe Pleistocene Ice Ages n
The Holocene Interglacial n Megahervibore Extinction n
Glacial Geology 256
Conclusion 276
Glossary 277
Bibliography 288
Index 297
tableS
1 Evolution of the Biosphere 17
2 The Geologic Time Scale 24
3 Evolution of Life and the Atmosphere 37
4 Classification of Species 47
5 Chronology of the Major Ice Ages 58
6 Classification of Volcanic Rocks 117
7 History of the Deep Circulation of the Ocean 170
8 Continental Drift 183
9 Flood Basalt Volcanism and Mass Extinctions 194
10 Comparison of Magnetic Reversals with Other Phenomena 226
11 The Major Deserts 264
VI
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
T
he author thanks the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History,the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),the National
Museums of Canada,the National Optical Astronomy Observatories
(NOAO),the National Park Service,the U.S.Geological Survey (USGS),and
the U.S.Navy for providing photographs for this book.
The author also thanks Frank K.Darmstadt,Senior Editor,and Cynthia
Yazbek,Associate Editor, for their invaluable contributions to the develop-
ment of this book.
VII

foreword
I
f we really want to understand another person we would probably begin
by examining their history,the environment in which they were raised,
their experiences when they were young,any catastrophes they have had
to endure.The same is true of our planet Earth.This is the only home we shall
ever have and it is wise for us to understand how it functions so that we can
adequately take care of it.To do this we need to know about its history.
Perhaps we have never considered just how remarkable,perhaps unique,
our planet is.We exist here today because of an amazing series of geological
coincidences,each of which has contributed to the life-supporting conditions
we currently find around us.This book is the story of that almost incredible
sequence of events that has culminated in the comforts of our Earth.We are
just the right distance from our neighborhood star, the Sun, to provide the
energy weneed,but not in excess.The Moon is a stabilizing influence on our
planet’s rotation and tilt,ensuring the regularity of our seasons,our seed-time
and harvest.The temperature of the Earth allows that vital material,water,to
remain in a liquid state over much of the planet’s surface,acting as the birth-
place,the support system,and indeed the major component of life.The chem-
icals needed for life,such as nitrogen,phosphorus,potassium,and sulfur,were
all present and available in the ancient oceans.Thus the unthinkable happened,
and life emerged, soon developing the vital green pigment, chlorophyll, by
means of which the energy of our Sun could be harnessed and the future of
living things assured.
IX