Triassic system is well developed on the Pacific coast, where its strata
are of marine origin, and they extend inland to the Great Basin
region.
The climate of the period, at least in its earlier part, seems to have been arid like that of the Permian, as indicated both by the paucity of fossils and by the character of the sediments. The salt and gypsum constitute a positive argument for aridity. The character of some of the conglomerate of the Newark series of the east, and the widespread redness of the beds, so far as it is original, also point to aridity.
As in other parts of the earth, the Triassic was the age of gymnosperms, which were represented by diverse types. Reptiles were the dominant form of animals, and land reptiles (dinosaurs) gained over their aquatic allies.
Jurassic System.—This system is not known with certainty in the eastern half of the United States, though there are some beds on the mid-Atlantic coast, along the inland border of the coastal plain, which have been thought by some, on the basis of their reptilian fossils, to be Jurassic. The lower and middle parts of the system are but doubtfully represented in the western interior. If present, they form a part of the Red Beds of that region. On the Pacific coast marine Jurassic beds reach in from the Pacific to about the same distance as the Triassic system. The Upper Jurassic formations are much more widely distributed. During the later part of the period the sea found entrance at some point north of the United States to a great area in the western part of the continent, developing a bay which extended far down into the United States from Canada. In this great bay formations of marine origin were laid down. At the same time marine sedimentation was continued on the Pacific coast, but the faunas of the west coast and the interior bay are notably unlike, the latter being more like that of the coast north of the United States. This is the reason for the belief that the bay which extended into the United States had its connexion with the sea north of the United States.
The Jurassic faunas of the United States were akin to those of other continents. The great development of reptiles and cephalopods was among the notable features. At the close of the period there were considerable deformations in the west. The first notable folding of the Sierras that has been definitely determined dates from this time, and many other mountains of the west were begun or rejuvenated. The close of the period, too, saw the exclusion of the sea from the Pacific coast east of the Sierras, and the disappearance, so far as the United States is concerned, of the great north-western bay of the late Jurassic. Before the close of the period, the aridity which had obtained during the Permian, and at least a part of the Triassic, seems to have disappeared.
Comanchean System.—This system was formerly classed as the lower part of the Cretaceous, but there are strong reasons for regarding it as a separate system. Its distribution is very different from that of the Upper Cretaceous, and there is a great and widespread unconformity between them. The faunas, too, are very unlike. The Comanchean formations are found (1) on the inland border of the coastal plain of the Atlantic (Potomac series) and Gulf coasts (Tuscaloosa series at the east and Comanchean at the west); (2) along the western margin of the Great Plains and in the adjacent mountains; and (3) along the Pacific coast west of the Sierras. In the first two of these positions, the formations show by their fossils that they are of terrestrial origin in some places, and partly of terrestrial and partly of marine origin in others. In the coastal plain the Comanchean beds are generally not cemented, but consist of gravel, sand and clay, occupying the nearly horizontal position in which they were originally deposited. Much plastic clay and sand are derived from them. In Texas, whence the name “Comanchean” comes, and where different parts of the system are of diverse origins, there is some limestone. This sort of rock increases in importance southward and has great development in Mexico. In the western interior there is difference of opinion as to whether certain beds rich in reptilian remains (the Morrison, Atlantosaurus, Como, &c.) should be regarded as Jurassic or Comanchean. On the western coast the term Shastan is sometimes applied to Lower Cretaceous. In the United States, marine Shastan beds are restricted to the area west of the Sierras, but they here have great thickness.
Widespread changes at the end of the period exposed the areas where deposition has been in progress during the period to erosion, and the (Upper) Cretaceous formations rest upon the Comanchean unconformably in most parts of the country. The Comanchean system contains the oldest known remains of netted-veined leaved plants, which mark a great advance in the vegetable world. Reptiles were numerous and of great size. They were the largest type of life, both on land and in the sea.
Cretaceous System.—This system is much more extensively developed in the United States than any other Mesozoic system. It is found (1) on the Atlantic coastal plain, where it laps up on the Comanchean, or over it to older formations beyond its inland margin; (2) on the coastal plain of the Gulf region in similar relations; (3) over the western plains; (4) in the western mountains; and (5) along the Pacific coast. Unlike the Comanchean, the larger part of the Cretaceous system is of marine origin. The distribution of the beds of marine origin shows that the sea crept up on the eastern and southern borders of the continent during the period, covered the western plains, and formed a great mediterranean sea between the eastern and western lands of the continent, connecting the Gulf of Mexico on the south and the Arctic Ocean on the north. This widespread submergence, followed by the deposition of marine sediments on the eroded surface of Comanchean and older rocks, is the physical reason for the separation of the system from the Comanchean. This reason is reinforced by palaeontological considerations.
Both on the Atlantic and over the western plains. the system is divided into four principal subdivisions:—
| Atlantic Coast. | Western Plains. |
| 4. Manasquan formation. | 4. Laramie. |
| 3. Rancocas formation. | 3. Montana: Fox Hills; Fort Pierre. |
| 2. Monmouth formation. | 2. Colorado: Niobrara; Benton. |
| 1. Matawan formation. | 1. Dakota. |
The most distinctive feature of the Cretaceous of the Atlantic coastal plain is its large content of green sand marl (glauconite). The formations are mostly incoherent, and have nearly their original position. In the eastern Gulf states there is more calcareous material, represented by limestone or chalk. In the Texan region and farther north the limestone becomes still more important. In the western plains, the first and last principal subdivisions of the system (Dakota and Laramie) are almost wholly non-marine. The Dakota formation is largely sandstone, which gives rise to “hogbacks” where it has been tilted, indurated and exposed to erosion along the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains. The Colorado series contains much limestone, some of which is in the form of chalk. This is par excellence the chalk formation of the United States. That the chalk was deposited in shallow, clear seas is indicated both by the character of the fossils other than foraminifera and by the relation of the chalk to the elastic portions of the series. The Montana series, most of which is marine, was deposited in water deeper than that of the Colorado epoch, though the series is less widespread than the preceding. The Laramie is the great coal-bearing series of the west, and corresponds in its general physical make-up and in its mode of origin to the Coal Measures of the east. The coal-bearing lands of the Laramie have been estimated at not less than 100,000 sq. m. On the Pacific coast the Cretaceous formations are sometimes grouped together under the name of Chico. The distribution of the Chico formations is similar to that of the Comanchean system in this region.
The Cretaceous system is thick. If maximum thicknesses of its several parts in different localities, as usually measured, are added together, the total would approach or reach 25,000 ft.; but the strata of any one region have scarcely more than half this thickness, and the average is much less.
The close of the period was marked by very profound changes which may be classed under three general headings: (1) the emergence of great areas which had been submerged until the closing stages of the period; (2) the beginning of the development of most of the great mountains of the west; (3) the inauguration of a protracted period of igneous activity, stimulated, no doubt, by the crustal and deeper-seated movements of the time. These great changes in the relation of land and water, and in topography, led to correspondingly great changes in life, and the combination marks the transition from the Mesozoic to the Cainozoic era.
Tertiary Systems.—The formations of the several Tertiary periods have many points of similarity, but in some respects they are sharply differentiated one from another. They consist, in most parts of the country, of unconsolidated sediments, consisting of gravel, sand, clay, &c., together with large quantities of tuff, volcanic agglomerate, &c. Some of the sedimentary formations are of marine, some of brackish water, and some of terrestrial origin. In the western part of the country there are, in addition, very extensive flows of lava covering in the aggregate some 200,000 sq. m. Terrestrial sedimentation was, indeed, a great feature of the Tertiary. This was the result of several conditions, among them the recent development, through warping and faulting and volcanic extrusion, of high lands with more or less considerable slopes. From these high lands sediments were borne down to lodge on the low lands adjacent. The sites of deposition varied as the period progressed, for the warping and faulting of the surface, the igneous extrusions, and the deposition of sediments obliterated old basins and brought new ones into existence. The marine Tertiary formations are confined to the borders of the continent, appearing along the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific coasts. The brackish water formations occur in some parts of the same general areas, while the terrestrial formations are found in and about the western mountains. As in other parts of the world, the chiefest palaeontological interest of the Tertiary attaches to the mammalian fossils.
The Eocene beds are unconformable, generally, upon the Cretaceous, and unconformable beneath the Miocene. On the Atlantic Eocene System. coast they are nearly horizontal, but dip gently seaward. On this coast they are nowhere more than a few hundred feet thick. In the Gulf region the system is more fully represented, and attains a greater thickness—1700 ft. at least. In the Gulf region the Eocene system contains not a little
