Cretaceous Period

Paleogeography

The position of Earth’s landmasses changed significantly during the Cretaceous Period—not unexpected, given its long duration. At the onset of the period there existed two supercontinents, Gondwana in the south and Laurasia in the north. South America, Africa (including the adjoining pieces of what are now the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East), Antarctica, Australia, India, Madagascar, and several smaller landmasses were joined in Gondwana in the south, while North America, Greenland, and Eurasia (including Southeast Asia) formed Laurasia. Africa had split from South America, the last land connection being between Brazil and Nigeria. As a result, the South Atlantic Ocean joined with the widening North Atlantic. In the region of the Indian Ocean, Africa and Madagascar separated from India, Australia, and Antarctica in Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous times. Once separated from Australia and Antarctica, India began its journey northward, which culminated in a later collision with Asia during the Cenozoic Era. Madagascar broke away from Africa during the Late Cretaceous, and Greenland separated from North America. Australia was still joined to Antarctica. These were barely attached at the junction of what are now North and South America.

Sea level was higher during most of the Cretaceous than at any other time in Earth history, and it was a major factor influencing the paleogeography of the period. In general, world oceans were about 100 to 200 metres (330 to 660 feet) higher in the Early Cretaceous and roughly 200 to 250 metres (660 to 820 feet) higher in the Late Cretaceous than at present. The high Cretaceous sea level is thought to have been primarily the result of water in the ocean basins being displaced by the enlargement of midoceanic ridges.

As a result of higher sea levels during the Late Cretaceous, marine waters inundated the continents, creating relatively shallow epicontinental seas in North America, South America, Europe, Russia, Africa, and Australia. In addition, all continents shrank somewhat as their margins flooded. At its maximum, land covered only about 18 percent of Earth’s surface, compared with approximately 28 percent today. At times, Arctic waters were connected to the Tethys seaway through the middle of North America and the central portion of Russia. On several occasions during the Cretaceous, marine animals living in the South Atlantic had a seaway for migration to Tethys via what is presently Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Libya. Most of western Europe, eastern Australia, parts of Africa, South America, India, Madagascar, Borneo, and other areas that are now land were entirely covered by marine waters for some interval of Cretaceous time.

Detailed study indicates 5 to 15 different episodes of rises and falls in sea level. The patterns of changes for the stable areas throughout history are quite similar, although several differences are notable. During most of the Early Cretaceous, parts of Arctic Canada, Russia, and western Australia were underwater, but most of the other areas were not. During the middle Cretaceous, east-central Australia experienced major inundations called transgressions. In the Late Cretaceous, most continental landmasses were transgressed but not always at the same time. One explanation for the lack of a synchronous record is the concept of geoidal eustacy, in which, it is suggested, as Earth’s continents move about, the oceans bulge at some places to compensate. Eustacy would result in sea level being different from ocean basin to ocean basin.

Water circulation and mixing were not as great as they are today, because most of the oceans (e.g., the developing North Atlantic) were constricted, and the temperature differences between the poles and the Equator were minimal. Thus, the oceans experienced frequent periods of anoxic (oxygenless) conditions in the bottom waters that reveal themselves today as black shales. Sometimes, particularly during the mid-Cretaceous, conditions extended to epicontinental seas, as attested by deposits of black shales in the western interior of North America.

The Cretaceous world had three distinct geographic subdivisions: the northern boreal, the southern boreal, and the Tethyan region. The Tethyan region separated the two boreal regions and is recognized by the presence of fossilized reef-forming rudist bivalves, corals, larger foraminiferans (single-celled organisms known for their glasslike shells, or tests), and certain ammonites (a group of extinct cephalopods known for their spiral shells) that inhabited only the warmer Tethyan waters. Early in the Cretaceous, North and South America separated sufficiently for the marine connection between the Tethys Sea and the Pacific to deepen substantially. The Tethys-to-Pacific marine connection allowed for a strong westward-flowing current, which is inferred from faunal patterns. For example, as the Cretaceous progressed, the similarity between rudist bivalves of the Caribbean and western Europe decreased, while some Caribbean forms have been found on Pacific seamounts, in Southeast Asia, and possibly in the Balkans.

The remnants of the northern boreal realm in North America, Europe, Russia, and Japan have been extensively studied. It is known, for instance, that sediments in the southwestern Netherlands indicate several changes of temperature during the Late Cretaceous. These temperature swings imply that the boundary between the northern boreal areas and the Tethys region was not constant with time. Russian workers recognize six paleobiogeographic zones: boreal, which in this context is equivalent to Arctic; European; Mediterranean, including the central Asian province; Pacific; and two paleofloristic zonations of land. Southern boreal areas and the rocks representing the southern Tethys margin lack this level of detail.

Magnetically, the Cretaceous was quiet relative to the subsequent Paleogene Period. In fact, magnetic reversals are not noted for a period of some 42 million years, from the early Aptian to the late Santonian ages. The lengths of Earth’s months (see synodic period) have changed regularly for at least the past 600 million years because of tidal friction and other forces that slow Earth’s rotation. The rate of change in the synodic month was minimal for most of the Cretaceous but has accelerated since. The reasons for these two anomalies are not well understood.