Give an overview of life through the Tertiary, in relation to changing Paleogeography and climate
The tertiary consisted of two main epochs. The Paleocene, the Eocene and the Oligocene, which make up the Paleogene; and the Miocene and Pliocene, which make up the Neogene.The close of the Cretaceous Period marked a major transition in Earth’s history. Ammonoids and marine reptiles disappeared from the sea. Marine taxa that persist as familiar inhabitants of modern ocean, among them bottom dwelling molluscs. On the land, the flowering plants of the Paleogene resembled those of latest Cretaceous time in many ways, but animal life changed dramatically. Taking the place of dinosaurs were the mammals, which were universally small and inconspicuous at the start of the Paleogene interval but in many ways resembled modern mammals by the period’s end. The most profound geographic change during Paleogene time was a refrigeration of Earth’s polar regions, which resulted in a chilling of the deep sea and, later in the Cenozoic Era, in widespread glaciation. Paleogene mountain-building events in western North America foreshadowed Neogene uplifts of such ranges as the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. During the Neogene, the modern world took shape. The global ecosystems acquired their present configuration and prominent topographic
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Australia Antarctica, South America, Miocene Antarctica, Neogene Paleocene, North Atlantic, Cretaceous Period, Paleogene Neogene, Humans Pliocene, Mountains Neogene, Oligocene Antarctica, south america, north america, rocky mountains, separated rest world, flowering plants, subcontinent india, asia australia, australia antarctica, tropical forests, separated rest, rest world,
Approximate Word count = 1355
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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