TWO CRETACEOUS TALES OF THE LAND AND THE SEA

Abstract

The Cretaceous Period (145-66 Ma), with no magnetic reversal for ~79 Ma, is generally termed as the Cretaceous Normal Superchron or the Magnetic Quiet Zone. There is evidence of at least two major large scale, global volcanisms in this long period synchronous with mass extinctions, during the Late Cretaceous and at the end of the Cretaceous. This study focusses on the effect of these two global volcanisms on 1. The Ocean: Eagle Ford, South Texas at the beginning of the Late Cretaceous, 93.9 Ma, probably caused by Cretaceous mafic volcanism from the Ontong Java Plateau and/or Caribbean Large Igneous Province volcanism (LIP), and 2. The Land: Deccan Traps, end-Cretaceous, 66 Ma, LIP volcanism.