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The ancient sea, which existed from the early Late Cretaceous (100 Ma) to the earliest Paleocene (66 Ma), connected the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean. The two land masses it created were Laramidia to the west and Appalachia to the east. At its largest extent, it was 2,500 feet (760 m) deep, 600 miles (970 km) wide and over 2,000 miles ...
Simplified Stratigraphic Sequence of Northern Gulf of Mexico from the Late-Triassic through Early-Cretaceous The salt structures, which include anticlines , pillows , plugs and walls, in addition to extensive sheets, were created long after deposition by the rapid overlying sedimentation. [ 11 ]
The thickness of the Lower Cretaceous varies from 750 meters (2,460 ft) up to 1,675 meters (5,495 ft) in the boreholes. The Upper Cretaceous sequence is mainly platform limestone, with marl and interbedded anhydrite. It varies in thickness from 600 meters (2,000 ft) up to 1,200 meters (3,900 ft).
The Wilcox Group represents the earliest series of major post‐Cretaceous pulses of sand deposition along the western margin of the Gulf of Mexico. Laramide basement uplifts have long been held to be the source of Wilcox sediments, implying that initiation of basement uplift was the driving factor for the transition from carbonate ...
Sea levels reached their highest level in all of geologic history during the Cretaceous, although they declined before the period ended. [77] Scleractinian corals were more diverse during the Cretaceous than they are today. Back then coral reefs formed along the Gulf coast. [78] Rudist bivalves also constructed reefs in the Gulf coast region. [79]
The Cretaceous (along with the Mesozoic) ended with the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, a large mass extinction in which many groups, including non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and large marine reptiles, died out, widely thought to have been caused by the impact of a large asteroid that formed the Chicxulub crater in the Gulf of Mexico ...
The Gulf of Mexico yields more fish, shrimp, and shellfish annually than the south and mid-Atlantic, Chesapeake, and New England areas combined. [5] The Smithsonian Institution Gulf of Mexico holdings are expected to provide an important baseline of understanding for future scientific studies on the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. [41]
Sea level during Oceanic Anoxic Event II at the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary was at its highest of the Cretaceous due to high global temperatures. At that time, the Western Interior Seaway stretched from the Boreal Sea (present Arctic Sea) to the Tethys Sea (present Gulf of Mexico), making it 6000 km long and 2000 km wide.