The Geology of the

Cenozoic Era
 Introduction
The Cenozoic began
~65 mya and
continues until the
present
Cenozoic rocks are
more easily accessible
and less deformed than
older rocks

divided into the Tertiary

and Quaternary
 Early Work on the Cenozoic
Charles Lyell Englands foremost geologist
of his day.
Author of Principles of Geology (1830)
Supported James Hutton's concepts of
Uniformitarianism
Teacher of Charles Darwin
Charles Lyell studied the Tertiary and Quaternary fossils of
France
Defined the Eocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, and
Holocene
Paleocene and Oligocene were added later
Geologic Events Cenozoic

Mantle upwelling
Colorado Plateau
Washington

Laramide uplifts eroded away

(Longest Tertiary Epoch)

Rockies
 Cenozoic Tectonic activity concentrated in two areas
Alpine-Himalayan belt deformation began in the Mesozoic
and remains geologically active.
Isolation of Tethys to form the modern Mediterranean Sea

circum-Pacific belt deformation occurred throughout the

Cenozoic
 Cenozoic Pacific realm
1. Subduction of the Farallon Plate and its Mid Ocean Ridge
2. Formation of Andean Cordillera San Andreas forms
Geologic Events Cenozoic

Mantle upwelling
Colorado Plateau
Washington
, Basin & Range
San Andreas Fault

(Longest Tertiary Epoch)

Rockies
 Cordillera
Circum-Pacific Orogenic belt
Laramide Lt. Jur - E Tertiary
further inland than most - CLUE
deformation was vertical uplift, with
little volcanism
shallow subduction angle
buoyant subduction
 Laramide Orogeny K to T
Buoyant Subduction
One possible result of shallow angle of
subduction and the drag that it causes with
overlying lithosphere is uplift - Rocky
Mountain formation.
Renewed normal subduction would restore
normal volcanism within the western part
of the mountains Basin and Range
Uplift of the Rocky Mountains

Rockies

shear stress

Basin and Range

Teton Range Laramide uplifts eroded away
in Oligocene, renewed uplifts Late Mio Pleist.
 Basin and Range of Cordillera
Columbia River Basalts

Basin and Range

Beginning in the Miocene, 2 mechanisms

1. lessening of the subduction angle allows dewatering
volcanism further west.
2. Farallon pieces under the lithosphere cause uplift,
lithosphere cracking and buoyant decompression
 Basin and Range terminology
DISCUSSION, SHIP HULLS

Extensional Feature
w/ Normal Faults
Geologic Events Cenozoic

Mantle upwelling
Colorado Plateau
Washington
San Andreas Fault, Basin & Range

(Longest Tertiary Epoch)

Rockies
 San Andreas transform

Ridges Change Orientation 15 mya SAF forms

 The Interior Lowlands
Sediments eroded from the Laramide
highlands were deposited in the
Cannonball Sea Early Paleocene
south to North Dakota.
Terrestrial deposits are also found, but
much of this area was experiencing erosion
Igneous activity was significant in some
areas - New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming,
and others
East of the Great Plains, deposits other than
glacial are rare until the eastern coastal
plain.
The Gulf Coastal Plain The Tejas
epeiric sea
transgressed
briefly over the
southeastern
coastal plains
E. Tertiary
eight minor
transgressive-
regressive
sequences are
recognized as
sea level fell in
general
reduced rifting
 East Coast
Passive margin sedimentation dominates
rocks form a seaward thickening wedge that
dips gently seaward
Cenozoic uplift and erosion produced the
present topography of the Appalachians
Coastal Plain a thick clastic wedge
Florida Carbonates Pliocene - Recent
 Eastern North America

Allegheny Orogeny still high

Erosion due Transgression

Coastal Plain streams and marshes

Appalachians rejuvenated recently, probably glacial rebound
 2. Eocene to Miocene
1.Alpine Orogen Apennine Balkan Carpathian Caucasus Pyrenees Atlas

3. Vocabulary: 4.Closing of the Tethys Sea

Isolation of the Mediterranean Basin: Evaporites
Nappe Large recumbent folds in thrust-fault zones where orogenic belts impinge craton margins
Flysch alternating thin shales and sandstones. Sandstones turbidites prior orogenic collision.
Molasse non-marine deposits accompanying the uplift of a mountain belt.
Nappe-folded mountains
 New Orogen, Nappes still visible

http://www.geol-alp.com/chartreuse/3_tecto_chartreuse/1_ch_occ.html
source
 1. The underside of Europe collided with
numerous microplates rifted from Africa
Arabian-African Rift Closing of the Tethys Sea between late
Mesozoic and early Cenozoic time
3. Messinian Salinity Crisis ~ 5.5 mya 4. Thrusts not Subduction

2. Pliocene three way rift.

3. Arabia Microcontinent collision -> Zagros Mts

 Himalayan Orogeny

Thin-skinned tectonics Subduction

Partly subducted so under AW
 Himalayan Orogeny

Zoomed-in Views AW

FAB
 Generalized Cross-Section

South North
Dcollement

Dcollement (from the French 'to detach

from') is a gliding plane between two rock
masses, also known as a basal
detachment fault.
Dcollements result in independent styles
of deformation in the rocks above and
below the fault.
Both compressional settings (involving
folding and overthrusting) and extensional
settings.
 Cenozoic Climates, Currents, and
Volcanism
Ocean current flow changes due to
tectonics in Antarctic-Australian and
Central American regions
Dramatic changes in climate
Major plume under North America
Continuous cooling, culminating in
on-going Ice Age
Cenozoic Cooling
Australia separates Central
America
(Northern
construction
Hemisphere)
Starts see
Monterey Fm.
Geologic Events Cenozoic

Panama Closes

Mediterranean Dries Out

Circumpolar Current
Antarctica
(Longest Tertiary Epoch)
High CO2
Rockies
Antarctic Circumpolar Current
Paleocene to Mid-Eocene

WARM Currents from Tropics

 Early Eocene Warm
Green River Formation

Oil Shales
Green River Formation
Lake (lacustrine) silts
Organic-rich (oil) shales w/ fossils
Green River Formation

Tropical Plants to High Latitudes

 Antarctic Circumpolar Current
2. Late Eocene
Sudden Antarctic cooling as warm currents barred

3.
5. Longest continuous Ice Sheets

4. Fauna changes. Example: Penguin relationships

from S. American bird following current rich in fish. 1. Australia pulls away
 Fossils in volcanic tuff deposit

Cooler
Tree stumps, insects in Oligocene Ash, Florissant, Colorado
Extensive Volcanism Late Eocene to Oligocene
 Pre Gulf Stream Current
Isthmus of Panama
open, same salinity
Atlantic and Pacific

Early Pliocene
 Modern Gulf Stream Current
1. Terranes, Subduction, Volcanic Arc,
Isthmus of Panama closed, North Atlantic isol.,
higher salinity, dense cool water sinks before it
reaches Arctic, polar sea freezes

Late Pliocene Mediterranean Dried Out

2. Caused Formation of the present Gulf Stream Current in the Atlantic

3. Dramatic Cooling
Late Pliocene 5.96 to 5.33 mya
Messinian Salinity Crisis
recall salt buoyancy, low competence

Evaporites, Gorges, Faunal Exchanges

 Bears The Great Exchange
Camels
Cats
Dogs
Elephants
North America
Horses
Peccaries Anteaters
Rabbits Armadillos
Raccoons Capybaras
Skunks Glyptodonts
Tapirs South America
Monkeys
Weasels Opossums
Porcupines
Sloths
Late Pliocene,
Toxodonts
Isthmus of Panama
closed, migrations
North and South
With cooling comes drought. Grasses replaced forests, mammals
adapted for a diet of grass, grew larger, faster as predators
pursued.
Geologic Events Cenozoic

Mantle upwelling
Colorado Plateau
Washington

Laramide uplifts eroded away

(Longest Tertiary Epoch)

Rockies
 Pliocene 2000 m uplift of Colorado Plateau
(Grand Canyon - Colorado River incised )

Evidence,
Incised meanders
 The Yellowstone Plume
Miocene to Recent
Starts with flood basalts in Columbia
Plateau Washington and Oregon 15 mya
Continues into Snake River Basin
Then to Yellowstone in Holocene
Basalt flows - Columbia Plateau
Miocene 15 12 mya
Start of Plume forming Snake River Plateau
and recently Yellowstone

Just like the Watchungs

Craters of the Moon Monument
Migration of Snake River Basin over the plume 10 mya
Migration of Yellowstone Park over the plume 2 mya to recent
Geologic Events Cenozoic

(Longest Tertiary Epoch)

Rockies
 Pleistocene Glaciation
The Pleistocene began about 1.8 1.6 mya and
ended about 10,000 years ago
several intervals of widespread glaciation took place,
separated by warmer intervals
 Causes of Ice Ages

Plate Tectonics
Moves Continents to Poles
Raises mountains above snowline

Orbit distance, Axis Tilt and Wobble

Moderates solar radiation north of 65 N
Milankovitch Cycles ~ 100,000 years
Low summertime radiation 65 N, glaciers expand
 Milankovitch Cycles

Discussion: cool summers and wet winters

Moisture content of air masses

100,000 years
Warm Wet Winter
Cool Summer

Cold Dry Winter Hot

Summer

41,000 years
Discussion: Perihelion and Aphelion

25,700 years
 Louis Agassiz
Swiss Geologist
Eventually Professor of Geology at
Harvard
Familiar with Alpine Glaciers
Recognized Moraines, erratic boulders,
and scoured bedrock in Europe and N.Am
Proposed huge glaciations Europe and N.
America
 Glacial and Interglacial Stages
C-14 works here
Medieval warm 900-1300 65 (ongoing)
Little Ice Age 1300 -1850

50

140

35

135

65

(Many)

Glacial advances named for states

Foraminifera
Warm
tests - Ice Age Cold
Wisconsinan

Illinoian About 30 pulses in

4 or so major
groups
Kansan

Nebraskan

3. Also spiral direction &

diversity depends on Temp.

1. Evap. water and CO2

removes 16O from oceans 2. Ice traps CO2
18O left in oceans
and water with light
used to make shells oxygen
The Effects of Glaciation
The effects of glacial erosion and
deposition are evident worldwide
lowering of sea level affected
base level of streams
pluvial lakes
proglacial lakes
Compression of the Crust
 Pleistocene Lakes - West
Pluvial Lakes

Remnant of Bonneville
 Lake Bonneville terraces

Much deeper that GSL

(melting)