The world, Early Jurassic, 200 Ma, Global Paleogeographic Views of Earth History, NAU
The world, Early Jurassic, 195 Ma, PALEOMAP Project
The world, Middle Jurassic, 170 Ma, Global Paleogeographic Views of Earth History, NAU
The world, Late Jurassic, 152 Ma, PALEOMAP Project
The world, Late Jurassic, 150 Ma, Global Paleogeographic Views of Earth History, NAU
North America, Early Jurassic, 195 Ma, Paleogeography and Geologic Evolution of North America, NAU
North America, Early Jurassic, 180 Ma, Paleogeography and Geologic Evolution of North America, NAU
North America, Middle Jurassic, 170 Ma, Paleogeography and Geologic Evolution of North America, NAU
North America, Late Jurassic, 150 Ma, Paleogeography and Geologic Evolution of North America, NAU
North America in the Jurassic Period
North American Jurassic Rocks (green)
Jurassic, Palæos
Jurassic, Wikipedia
The Jurassic, Paleontology Portal
The Jurassic, University of California Museum of Paleontology
Geologic Time Table, Seafriends
See general sources above.
Early and Middle Jurassic, ~175 Ma, PALEOMAP project
Late Jurassic, ~150 Ma, PALEOMAP project
Jurassic Life, Palæos
Jurassic fauna, Jurassic flora, Wikipedia
Jurassic Period: Life, University of California Museum of Paleontology
The Jurassic: The Age of Dinosaurs, Fossil-Facts-and-Finds.com
Jurassic Fossils, Fossil Museum
Rifting continues into the Jurassic, and Pangaea begins to completely break apart.
The North Atlantic Ocean begins forming as rifting occurs in the western part of the Tethys Ocean.
The Cimmerian terrane and Cathaysian terranes (including South China and North China) continue to collide with Asia. Mountains form in central Asia during the Cimmerian orogeny (mountain building period) that were as high as the Himalaya Mountains of today.
The central Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico form in the Middle Jurassic.
The Toarcian turnover, a wave of extinction events primarily affecting sea life, occurs in the Early Jurassic.
Gondwana also begins to rift apart. A spreading region forms between western Gondwana (Africa and South America) and eastern Gondwana (India, Antarctica, and Australia). Volcanoes form in the rift valleys.
Laurasia slowly continues to separate as Eurape and Asia move away from Greenland and the rest of North America.
North America moves northwest into the northern hemisphere, and western Gondwana (made of Africa and South America) moves to the equator.
The Appalachian Mountains in eastern North America begin eroding and create sediments to the west and east.
Sea levels rise during the Jurassic.
For a time, an inland sea, called the Sundance Sea, floods the central part of North America.
Although Europe and Asia have joined, and the Ural Mountains have already formed, European landmasses and Asia are still separated by shallow seas due to the rising sea levels.
A subduction zone extends along the entire west coast of North and South America. The Farallon Plate is formed and subducts below western America. Giant volcanoes form mountain ranges and volcanic islands on the coast. The first mountain building period is the Nevadan orogeny. The granite basement rocks of the Sierra Nevada and the Peninsular Coast Ranges (Southern California and Baja California) are the remains of magma rising beneath these volcanoes.
The ocean plates also carry volcanic island terranes into North America, which helps to build the western part of the continent.
Subduction of ocean plates under western South America begins to create the Andes Mountains (Andean orogeny).
Wells Creek crater impact event, Tennessee, Triassic or Jurassic.
Riachão Ring impact event, Brazil, Jurassic or younger.
Cloud Creek crater impact event, Wyoming.
Viewfield crater impact event, Canada.
Kgagodi crater impact event, Botswana.
Upheaval Dome impact event, Utah.
Large Puchezh-Katunki crater impact event, Russia.
Zapadnaya crater impact event, Ukraine.
Vepriai crater impact event, Lithuania.
Liverpool crater impact event, Australia.
Tabun-Khara-Obo crater impact event, Mongolia.
Morokweng crater impact event, Botswana. Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary.
A minor biological extinction peak occurs at the end of the Jurassic period.
© 2009, Mr. Varner.
