Jurassic

The Jurassic is the geologic period from about 201 to 145 million years ago, marked by the breakup of Pangaea and the diversification of dinosaurs.

Geologic time scale: A chronological framework dividing Earth's history into eons, eras, periods, epochs, and ages. The Jurassic is one period within this hierarchy.
Plate tectonics: The theory that Earth's outer shell consists of moving plates whose interactions reshape the surface. Plate motion drove the continental rifting that defined Jurassic geography.
Solnhofen Limestone: A Late Jurassic fine-grained limestone deposit in Bavaria, Germany, famous for exceptionally preserved fossils. Its delicate fossils document organisms from a Jurassic lagoon system.
Dinosaur: A member of a diverse group of reptiles that dominated many terrestrial ecosystems during the Mesozoic. Dinosaurs diversified into varied forms during Jurassic terrestrial ecosystems.
Radiometric dating: A method for determining the age of rocks by measuring radioactive isotope decay. It helps calibrate the Jurassic's boundaries and date volcanic ash layers.
Mesozoic: The geologic era spanning the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods. The Jurassic occupies the middle of this era.
Central Atlantic Magmatic Province: A vast igneous province formed by volcanism around the Triassic–Jurassic boundary. Its eruptions preceded the boundary extinction and marked the transition into the Jurassic.
Morrison Formation: A widespread Upper Jurassic sequence of sedimentary rocks in western North America. Its fossil beds preserve iconic dinosaurs including Allosaurus and Stegosaurus.
Sauropod: A group of long-necked, long-tailed herbivorous dinosaurs that included the largest land animals. Sauropods became exceptionally large and diverse in Jurassic ecosystems.
Biostratigraphy: The dating and correlation of rock layers using their fossil content. Fossil succession helps correlate Jurassic strata across distant regions.

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