The next claimed extinction event, called the Triassic-Jurassic (Tr-J) extinction, which is also called the end-Triassic extinction, marks the boundary between the Triassic and Jurassic systems that supposedly occurred 201 million years ago. This extinction event is also contained within the sediments of the upper-Absaroka (Figures 1 and 2). It is also considered to be one of the five major extinction events of the Phanerozoic. In the oceans, it is estimated that about 23 to 34% of marine genera disappeared at this level (Tanner et al. 2004). On land, a large variety of Archosauria dropped from the fossil record, but crocodylomorphs, pterosaurs, and dinosaurs somehow selectively avoided extinction. There is a great deal of confusion among evolutionists regarding a clear connection between the Tr-J boundary and the terrestrial vertebrates that either disappeared or went on to thrive into the Jurassic. Another confusing aspect for evolutionists is the fact that plants and mammals also seemed to be relatively unaffected and that the dinosaurs and pterosaurs became the dominant land animals for the next 135 million years of the evolutionary timescale. As mentioned previously, the initial rifting and the breakup of the pre-Flood mega-continent referred to as Pangaea began in the Triassic. This breakup involved a progressive increase in global tectonic activity which caused more extensive plate motion and rapid subduction of the pre-Flood ocean lithosphere along the West Coast of North America and all around the Pacific Ocean. The East Coast of North America had already exhibited significant rifting in the Triassic, breaking away from what is now recognized as Africa. Essentially, the Jurassic witnessed the rapid injection of new, hot, buoyant ocean lithosphere between the separating continents, creating the seafloor of the Atlantic Ocean. Likewise, subduction of tectonic plates around the edges of the Pacific Ocean was simultaneously pulling open rifts and creating new hot seafloor. The combined action of these rifts (and rifts in other oceans) and production of seafloor continued to push the ocean water up from below, moving the tsunami-like waves higher onto the diminishing dry portions of the continents. All of this facilitated the transport of larger marine reptiles (e.g., Plesiosaurus) and deeper-water ocean fish onto the rapidly disappearing continents—mixing them with land creatures living at higher elevations and further inland (greater extent). This activity is reflected in the more extensive nature of the Jurassic rocks found spread across the continents as the water covered even higher elevations than ever before. To illustrate the continuing progression of the Flood onto land and the burial of terrestrial animals, the PBDB was queried using Archosauria, Insecta, and Mammalia as filters for the Jurassic (Figure 12). Land life entombed in Jurassic rocks represents not only an increase in water height and depositional violence, but the progressive burial of ecosystems farther inland on the pre-Flood Pangaea mega-continental fragments. We interpret that the extensive Jurassic Morrison Formation in North America represents animal and plant life derived from the pre-Flood Dinosaur Peninsula (Clarey 2015b) (Figure 13). In this model, the dinosaurs were able to survive through the early part of the global Flood in western North America simply because their habitat was not yet fully flooded until the deposition of the Zuni Megasequence of which the Middle and Upper Jurassic was merely the start (Clarey 2015b). Other dinosaurs may have been able to evacuate their lower-elevation pre-Flood habitats and flee to higher remnants of land as the floodwaters advanced. These escaping dinosaurs were not buried until later in the Zuni in rocks designated as Cretaceous. The Lower Jurassic represents the final stage of the Absaroka Megasequence, with the remainder of the Jurassic designated as Zuni (Figure 1). The collective Jurassic layers must have been deposited very rapidly and fast to bury the huge sauropod dinosaurs found within them. Although some dinosaurs remained partially articulated, many were torn apart during burial. The Jurassic system was also the final lead-up to the peak deposition across the continents later in the Cretaceous. Keep in mind also that this was occurring at the same time as the Pangaea mega-continent continued to separate. Within this overall scenario of chaos, the dinosaurs were buried in a definable order as the waters systematically and progressively inundated more and more land. The model of a Dinosaur Peninsula shows a hypothetical landmass extending down through the United States from Minnesota to New Mexico. This represented a low-lying land area below the pre-Flood uplands. It would have been full of all kinds of dinosaurs, large and small, as found in the rock layers. As the Flood’s waters advanced up over the peninsula, the outer edges and the southern tip likely flooded first, producing the many of the Triassic System rocks and trapping many dinosaurs that could not escape fast enough. As the Flood progressed higher due to increased tectonic activity, the sauropods that had lived at slightly higher elevations and the more mobile theropods that may have escaped to higher ground were buried in the Jurassic layers. This flooding scenario eventually reached its peak in the Cretaceous (Zuni Megasequence). H. Cretaceous (Zuni Megasequence) fossils As mentioned previously, the breakup of the pre-Flood mega-continent (called Pangaea) began in the Triassic. Continental separation accelerated in the Jurassic and through the Cretaceous. This is evidenced by the massive amount of seafloor attributed to these systems in the world’s oceans. The rapid injection of new, hot, basaltic magma at rifts during the Jurassic and Cretaceous created much new and buoyant ocean lithosphere between the separating continents. This pushed the water level to its highest point, marking the high-water point for the global Flood (Clarey 2020). This most likely occurred during the deposition of the last Cretaceous sediments or possibly the very beginning of the Cenozoic section (Paleocene). This level also marks the end of the fifth megasequence known as the Zuni. Nonetheless, this level represents a massive increase in the overall amount of sediments deposited across the world’s continents. In fact, the Zuni is the most extensive of all the six megasequences (Clarey and Werner 2023). In addition, the average thickness of the Zuni nearly doubles globally from previous megasequences. The deposition of the Zuni likely began about Day 100 of the Flood (Middle Jurassic), with the highest water level coming about Day 150 (end of the Cretaceous) (Johnson and Clarey 2021). At this point, the separated continents were completely submerged and all air-breathing land life was exterminated. The continuing tectonic activity in the Cretaceous accelerated the violence of the Flood by forcing tsunami-like waves higher and farther inland. The violent action thrust larger marine reptiles (e.g., Mosasaurus; Figure 5), along with deeper-water ocean fish, onto the separated continents, mixing marine with land creatures that were likely living at higher elevations. Land life buried in Cretaceous rocks represents both an increase in the Flood’s water height and depositional violence along with the continuing progressive burial of ecosystems living farther inward. All of this was directly linked to the development of new seafloor that was being created at the time. The Dinosaur Peninsula model mentioned previously, helps explains the fossil record in the American West from the Triassic through the Jurassic and continuing through the Cretaceous. During the progresTOMKINS AND CLAREY Paleontology of the Global Flood 2023 ICC 575
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