Triassic

Triassic 

Definition:

The Triassic describes a period of geology that began just over 252 million years ago and marked the first part of the Mesozoic. It lasted about 50 million years and is subdivided into three series with the lower, the middle and the upper triad, to which a total of seven levels are counted. The name of this epoch, which can be translated as "trinity", is attributed to the German scientist Friedrich August von Alberti, who coined the term in 1834. He referred to the naming on the found in Germany, originating from this geological phase three types of rock Buntsandstein, Keuper and Muschelkalk. Today, the triad is associated with the beginning of the existence of dinosaurs and is therefore particularly important for the development in the animal kingdom particularly significant. The end of the Triassic is characterized by a large mass extinction, over whose causes the scientists are still in disagreement.

Climate:

In the Triassic, the climate around the world was characterized by very mild to hot temperatures, which also led to an extensive freedom of ice on the poles. The distribution of the different climate zones was similar in the Triassic as it exists today, whereby Europe belonged to the subtropics due to its geographical position. While temperatures in the northern hemisphere were cooler, the climate in the southern hemisphere was characterized by hot weather and high humidity. Inland there were probably no or only a few inland waters due to the hot temperatures. Scientists could find no evidence of seasonal differences in weather. As in the Permian, there were also very dry and largely vegetation-less desert areas in the interior of the Triassic, which were also characterized by the covering of the earth's surface with red rock deposits, similar to the red-lying.

Geology:

In the Triassic, the major continents Gondwana and Laurasia were gradually merged and formed a supercontinent, which is now referred to as Pangea or Pangea. Between Laurasia, which encompassed today's Europe, Asia and North America, and the continent of Gondwana, built from Africa, South America, Australia, India and Antarctica, lay the Tethys Sea. The worldwide warmth of the Triassic region led to a large expansion of reef belts along coastal areas inhabited by new bone fish, cartilaginous fish and cancers. Since tectonic floes hardly collided in the Triassic, but only rubbed against each other, there were hardly any significant mountain formations in this phase of the earth's history. Only towards the end of the Triassic, a large part of all high mountains is formed due to the so-called alpine folding era.

Flora and Fauna (plants and animals):

Due to the climatic differences between the two hemispheres, the plant world in the north differed significantly from that in the south. The widespread dry deserts led to the formation of the first succulents in the hot zones, which develop the ability to store large amounts of water. While many tree-tall bear's lobsters and representatives of the ferns became extinct, bare-seeded plants such as ginkgo plants and coniferous trees became more and more prevalent. In the Triassic, the first direct forerunners of today's pine family appeared, including the firs, larches and spruces. Palm farms also continued to develop and appeared in great biodiversity. Through the development of flowers, a new form of reproduction occurred in the plant world, which was dependent on pollination by insects.

The insects were not only important for the existence of the plant world, but also as a food source for reptiles such as dinosaurs and crocodiles. The Triassic entered the Earth's history as the age of land-living reptiles, spawning many different species of plant-eating and carnivorous Ursaurians, which became extinct at the end of this era. Most of the sea creatures, including the fish saurians, also fell victim to this mass extinction. Only smaller dinosaurs, crocodiles, turtles and many species of insects could survive. Researchers suggest that by the end of the Triassic by a huge volcanic eruption to a poisoning of the marginal seas came, which led to the fact that nearly eighty percent of all animals were deprived of their livelihood.

Summary

The Triassic is a section of Earth's history that lasted from about 252 million years ago to 201 million years ago.

The geological era of the Triassic owes its name to the geologist Friedrich von Alberti. During excavations in Central Europe he discovered three different sediments: Buntsandstein, Keuper and Muschelkalk. However, this tripartite division is found only in the so-called Germanic basin. Elsewhere, the Triassic can not be identified by this typical stratification.

In the Triassic, Pangea had only one continent. Pangea is considered the last supercontinent in the history of the earth.

During the Triassic, dinosaurs first appeared on Earth.