Cenozoic Earth and Life History - The Changing Earth: Exploring Geology and Evolution - page 634

OUTLINE
Introduction
Cenozoic Plate Tectonics—An Overview
Cenozoic Orogenic Belts
Paleogene and Neogene Evolution of North America
The Pleistocene and Holocene Epochs
GEO-INSIGHT: Cascade Range Volcanoes
Cenozoic Mineral Resources
GEO-FOCUS: A Miocene Catastrophe in Nebraska
Paleogene and Neogene Life History
Pleistocene Faunas
Geo-Recap

OBJECTIVES
At the end of this chapter, you will have learned that
The Mesozoic breakup of Pangaea continued during the Ceno-
zoic, accounting for orogenies in two major belts.
The North American Cordillera experienced deformation, the
origin of mountains, volcanism, uplift, and deep erosion.
An epeiric sea briefl y occupied North America's interior
lowlands.
Thick sedimentary deposits accumulated along the Gulf and
Atlantic Coastal Plains.
Cenozoic uplift and erosion account for the present-day Appal-
achian Mountains.
Pleistocene continental glaciers covered vast areas of the
Northern Hemisphere continents.
Cenozoic rocks contain several resources, such as oil and gold.
Marine invertebrates such as foraminifera and mollusks were
abundant during the Cenozoic.
Mammals diversifi ed and eventually gave rise to today's familiar
mammals.

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Outcrop of the Miocene Dove Springs Formation in Red Rock Canyon State
Park at the western end of the El Paso Mountains in California. The rocks
in the park have served as a backdrop in many movies, especially westerns.
The red rocks are sandstones that were deposited in stream channels,
whereas the gray rocks are tuffaceous sandstones and the lightest layers are
fl oodplain deposits.

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