Everything about The Cenozoic totally explained
The
Cenozoic (also
Caenozoic or
Cainozoic) Era (meaning "new life" (
Greek καινός (
kainos), "new", and ζωή (
zoe), "life"), is the most recent of the three classic
geological eras. It covers the 65.5 million years since the
Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event at the end of the
Cretaceous that marked the demise of the last non-avian
dinosaurs and the end of the
Mesozoic Era. The Cenozoic era is ongoing.
Subdivision
The Cenozoic is divided into two periods, the
Paleogene and
Neogene, and they're in turn divided into
epochs. The Paleogene consists of the
Paleocene,
Eocene, and
Oligocene epochs, and the Neogene consists of the
Miocene,
Pliocene,
Pleistocene, and
Holocene epochs, the last of which is ongoing. Historically, the Cenozoic has been divided into periods (or sub-eras) named the
Tertiary (Paleocene through Pliocene) and
Quaternary (Pleistocene and Holocene).
Tectonics
Geologically, the Cenozoic is the era when the
continents moved into their current positions.
Australia-New Guinea split from
Gondwana and drifted north and, eventually, adjacent to
South-east Asia;
Antarctica moved into its current position over the
South Pole; the
Atlantic Ocean widened and, later in the era,
South America became attached to
North America.
India collided with Asia between 55 and 45 million years ago; Arabia collided with Eurasia, closing the
Tethys ocean, around .
Climate
The Cenozoic has been a period of long-term cooling. In the early Cenozoic, particulate ejecta from the
K-T boundary impact blocked incoming solar radiation . After the tectonic creation of
Drake Passage, when Australia fully detached from Antarctica during the
Oligocene, the climate cooled significantly due to the advent of the
Antarctic Circumpolar Current which brought cool deep Antarctic water to the surface. Warm conditions returned in the
Miocene due to uncovered gas hydrates releasing
carbon dioxide. When South America became attached to North America creating the
Isthmus of Panama, the Arctic region cooled due to the strengthening of the
Humboldt and
Gulf Stream currents, eventually leading to the
Last Glacial Maximum.
Life
The Cenozoic is the
age of new life. During the Cenozoic, mammals diverged from a few small, simple, generalized forms into a diverse collection of terrestrial, marine, and flying animals. The Cenozoic is just as much the age of
savannas, or the age of co-dependent
flowering plants and insects.
Birds also evolved substantially in the Cenozoic.
Monte
Bolca is an important
lagerstätte near Verona, Italy, containing excellently preserved fish and other fossils of
Eocene age.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Cenozoic'.
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