Paleozoic Earth History - The Changing Earth: Exploring Geology and Evolution - page 522

OUTLINE
Introduction
Continental Architecture: Cratons and Mobile Belts
Paleozoic Paleogeography
Paleozoic Evolution of North America
The Sauk Sequence
GEO-FOCUS: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
The Tippecanoe Sequence
GEO-INSIGHT : The Grand Canyon—A Geologist's Paradise
The Kaskaskia Sequence
The Absaroka Sequence
History of the Paleozoic Mobile Belts
What Role Did Microplates and Terranes Play in the Formation
of Pangaea?
Paleozoic Mineral Resources
Geo-Recap

OBJECTIVES
At the end of this chapter, you will have learned that
Six major continents were present at the beginning of the
Paleozoic Era, and that plate movement resulted in continental
collisions leading to the formation of the supercontinent
Pangaea at the end of the Paleozoic.
The Paleozoic history of North America can be subdivided
into six cratonic sequences, which represent major
transgressive-regressive cycles.
During the transgressive portions of each cycle, the North
American craton was partially to nearly completely covered
by shallow seas in which a variety of detrital and carbonate
sediments were deposited, resulting in widespread sandstone,
shale, reef, and coal deposits.

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The need to cheaply transport coal from where it was mined to where it
was needed resulted in widespread canal building in England during the late
1700s and early 1800s. William Smith, who started his career mapping vari-
ous coal mines, and later produced the fi rst geologic map of England, was
instrumental in helping to fi nd the most effi cient canal routes to bring coal
to market. Canals such as the Grand Junction Canal shown here in this 1819
woodcut were critical not only for transporting coal from the mines to market,
but also for the movement of people and goods.

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