Lecture 5 Flashcards
When did stromatolites first exist?
About 3.5 billion years ago
What were the first “reefs”?
Stromatolites
Stromatolites
1) Sedimentary structure
2) Consisting of laminated carbonate
3) Produced over geological time by the trapping, binding, or precipitation of sediment by groups of microbes (cyanobacteria)
The 3 eras of reefs/time (Present to past) “CMP”
1) Cenozoic
2) Mesozoic
3) Paleozoic
The quarternary (4) periods of reefs/time (Present to past)
1) Tertiary (Cenozoic)
2) Cretaceous (Mesozoic)
3) Jurassic (Meso)
4) Triassic (Meso)
The 3 periods of the Mesozoic era ‘CJT”
1) Cretaceous
2) Jurassic
3) Triassic
Tertiary Period Coral/Marine life
1) Cerazoic Era
2) Most marine reptiles go extinct
3) Corals most similar to today’s
4) Zooxanthellae symbiosis likely evolved independently
Cretaceous Period coral/marine life
1) Mesozoic Era
2) Major decrease in sea levels
3) Last great proliferation of corals
Jurassic period coral/marine life
1) Mesozoic Era
2) Max coral diversity
Triassic period coral/marine life
1) Mesozoic Era
2) Pangea + Panthalasa Sea
Paleozoic Era coral/marine life
1) Early corals were small and solitary
2) 250 million years ago
What time period were stromatolites first present?
Pre-Cambrian
What time period was the first mass extinction of corals?
Cambrian
In total, how many mass extinctions of coral (and most other species) have there been?
5
Paleozoic Era
1) at least 7 (maybe 9) suborders of scleractinian with no known common ancestor
