The world, Middle Triassic, 240 Ma, Global Paleogeographic Views of Earth History, NAU
The world, Middle Triassic, 237 Ma, PALEOMAP Project
The world, Late Triassic, 220 Ma, Global Paleogeographic Views of Earth History, NAU
North America, Early to Middle Triassic, 245 Ma, Paleogeography and Geologic Evolution of North America, NAU
North America, Middle Triassic, 230 Ma, Paleogeography and Geologic Evolution of North America, NAU
North America, Late Triassic, 210 Ma, Paleogeography and Geologic Evolution of North America, NAU
North America in the Triassic Period
North American Triassic Rocks (dark green)
Triassic, Palæos
Triassic, Wikipedia
The Triassic, Paleontology Portal
The Triassic, University of California Museum of Paleontology
Geologic Time Table, Seafriends
See general sources above.
Early Triassic, ~250 Ma, PALEOMAP project
Middle Triassic, ~237 Ma, PALEOMAP project
Late Triassic, ~ 210 Ma, PALEOMAP project
Triassic Land Plants, Invertebrates, Vertebrates, Palæos
Triassic life, Wikipedia
The Triassic: Reptiles Inherit the Earth, Fossil-Facts-and-Finds.com
Triassic Fossils, Fossil Museum
Beginning of the Mesozoic Era. The world begins slowly recovering from the Permian–Triassic extinction event (The Great Dying).
Almost all of the Earth's land area is in the supercontinent of Pangaea during the Triassic.
The Earth is warm with no glaciers or polar ice caps. Deserts are common in the tropics, and the polar areas are temperate.
The Cimmerian terrane (Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Tibet, Indochina and Malaya) continues to head north toward southeastern Laurasia. The Tethys Ocean south of Cimmeria grows larger and the Paleo-Tethys Ocean continues shrinking.
Laurasia, composed of Laurentia, Baltica, Avalonia, Siberia, and Kazakhstania is fully assembled.
The Hunter-Bowen orogeny continues due to accretion of terranes in what is today southeastern Australia.
The Sonoma orogeny (that started in the Permian) continues to build the Sonoma Mountains, the first stage in the formation of the Rocky Mountains.
Volcanic island arcs continue to form west of Laurasia (western North America). An enormous 1300 km long chain called the Intermontane Islands forms, and subduction will eventually cause a collision of this terrane and Pangaea.
The Cimmerian terrane begins to collide with the the Cathaysian terranes, beginning with South China. North China attaches to Kazakhstania and Siberia, and becomes part of Pangaea. This is the beginning of the Cimmerian orogeny.
Serra da Cangalha impact event, Brazil. Permian or Triassic.
Kursk crater impact event, Russia, near the beginning of the Triassic.
Gow crater impact event, Canada, Triassic or later.
Large Araguainha crater impact event, Brazil. This is the largest impact crater in South America.
Karikkoselkä impact event, Finland.
Wells Creek crater impact event, Tennessee, Triassic or Jurassic.
A series of several impact events occur late in the Triassic that evidence suggests are from a single original object: Saint Martin crater (Canada), Manicouagan crater (Canada), Rochechouart crater (France), Obolon' crater (Ukraine), Red Wing crater (North Dakota).
Near the end of the Triassic, rifting begins the process of breaking up Pangaea. The rift between North America and Africa is one of the first. Europe remains attached to Greenland and North America, but shallow seas wil separate them. A rift and inland sea form between South America and North America that will become the Gulf of Mexico.
At the end of the Triassic, the Cimmerian terrane and southern Cathaysian terranes are set to collide with Pangaea. This will bring together today's continent of Asia.
Though not as large as the Great Dying that began the period, another mass extinction, known as the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event, occurs at the end of the Triassic.
© 2009, Mr. Varner.
