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Early Cretaceous Epoch
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A detailed geologic time scale chart displaying Earth's history from the Hadean Eon over 4.5 billion years ago to the present, organized by eons, eras, periods, epochs, and ages with color-coded columns and corresponding dates in millions of years.
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Early Cretaceous Epoch

geochronology
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A detailed geologic time scale chart displaying Earth's history from the Hadean Eon over 4.5 billion years ago to the present, organized by eons, eras, periods, epochs, and ages with color-coded columns and corresponding dates in millions of years.
geologic time The stratigraphic chart of geologic time.

The Early Cretaceous Epoch, a subdivision of the Cretaceous Period, spanned from approximately 145 million to 100.5 million years ago. This epoch, part of the Mesozoic Era, was characterized by a generally warmer and more humid climate than today, with polar regions free of ice sheets.123

During this time, Earth's landmasses were separating. Supercontinents like Gondwana and Laurasia began to rift apart, leading to the formation of new oceans, including the South Atlantic. Sea levels were significantly higher than present, inundating continental margins and creating shallow epicontinental seas.24

Life flourished, with dinosaurs dominating terrestrial ecosystems. Marine reptiles were prevalent in the seas, and flying reptiles filled the skies. The emergence and proliferation of flowering plants (angiosperms) also marked this era. The Early Cretaceous saw the deposition of significant chalk beds in various regions, a testament to the abundance of marine life.2

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4 Britannica Sources
  1. Cretaceous Period
  2. Cretaceous Period - Paleogeography
  3. Cretaceous Period - Major subdivisions of the Cretaceous System
  4. Cretaceous Period - Paleoclimate

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