NEWS NOTES ON SUSTAINABLE WATER RESOURCESWestern Interior Seawayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Interior_Seaway“The Western Interior Sea...
Published on by Tim Smith, Employee at Retiree & P/T Consultant
Western Interior Seaway
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Interior_Seaway
“The Western Interior Seaway (also called the Cretaceous Seaway, the Niobraran Sea, the North American Inland Sea, and the Western Interior Sea) was a large inland sea that existed during the mid- to late Cretaceous period as well as the very early Paleogene, splitting the continent of North America into two landmasses, Laramidia to the west and Appalachia to the east. The ancient sea stretched from the Gulf of Mexico and through the middle of the modern-day countries of the United States and Canada, meeting with the Arctic Ocean to the north. At its largest, it was 2,500 feet (760 m) deep, 600 miles (970 km) wide and over 2,000 miles (3,200 km) long.”
“The Western Interior Seaway was a shallow sea, filled with abundant marine life. Interior Seaway denizens included predatory marine reptiles such as plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs that grew up to 18 metres (59 ft) long. Other marine life included sharks such as Squalicorax, Cretoxyrhina, and the giant shellfish-eating Ptychodus mortoni (believed to be 10 metres (33 ft) long); and advanced bony fish including Pachyrhizodus, Enchodus, and the massive 5-metre (16 ft) long Xiphactinus, larger than any modern bony fish. Other sea life included invertebrates such as mollusks, ammonites, squid-like belemnites, and plankton including coccolithophores that secreted the chalky platelets that give the Cretaceous its name, foraminiferans and radiolarians.”