Talk:Western Interior Seaway

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Was the northern arm called the Sundance Sea before it merged with the transgression from the Gulf of Mexico? 68.81.231.127 06:38, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Good question.... does somone know? Wendell

Don't think so...I'm pretty sure the Sundance Sea had regressed and been filled with eroded sediments well before the trangression that created the Western Interior Seaway began.Erimus 21:36, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

Dates

Could someone provide some references to the timescales involved here? I realize the late-Cretaceous Period is mentioned, but I think some actual dates would be helpful. — Preceding unsigned comment added by JefeMixtli (talk • contribs) 17:30, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

Colorado Sea

How much conceptual overlap is there between the idea of the Colorado Sea and the Western Interior Seaway? Abyssal (talk) 16:48, 7 April 2011 (UTC)

Hell's Aquarium

This sea has been nicknamed Hell's Aquarium due to the sheer quantity and diversity of large predatory reptiles and fish that called it home. Is this noteworthy enough to be mentioned in the article?--Dinolover45 (talk) 16:53, 1 October 2012 (UTC)

If you can find a reliable reference to this nickname, it would be fine to include it. -Fjozk (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 15:56, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

The only source that refers to the Western Interior Seaway as "Hell's Aquarium" was the "Walking With" series. And they coined the nickname in order to sensationalize it to drum up more viewers.--Mr Fink (talk) 16:27, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

I knew I had heard it, but I have a database of resources on the seaway, and I could find that nowhere. In my opinion that takes it down to trivia, and I would prefer it not be in the article. -Fjozk (talk) 16:35, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

Correction: there are two references to a "Hell's Aquarium" that I know of, the first is the last episode of the "Sea Monsters" series, where the host casually refers to the WIS as "Hell's Aquarium," and the novel, "Meg: Hell's Aquarium," which has very little to do with the WIS. And agreed, it is not worth having a trivia section in this article.--Mr Fink (talk) 21:42, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

in 2021, it's become a common term; https://www.paleonerds.com/podcast/laurawilson — Preceding unsigned comment added by 104.169.24.168 (talk) 01:39, 9 April 2021 (UTC)

Epeirogenic uplift ?

the large-scale, regional uplift, which raised the Rockies & Great Plains, seems to be termed Epeirogenic uplift.66.235.38.214 (talk) 12:44, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

References

Whomever edited references here and in some other areas has invented a person, Benton. The article citation should read "Bennett, S. C. The pterosaurs of the Niobrara Formation. The Earth Scientist, 11(1):22-25." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.114.104.7 (talk) 18:48, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

End of the seway

Western Interior seaway collapse Update 1

This shows the western Interior seaway disappearing between 70-66 mya.These are mine. I modeled them using a United states map. I can add canada and Mexico

Western Interior Seaway disappearing between 70-66 mya I used these images.

The Colorado Department of Transportation did a Paleo excavation next to I -25 at Castle Rock Colorado and got 135 new species of tree leaves with drip tips at 64 Ma. The Climate was above water, and wet as the drip tips on the leaves indicate a location with high rainfall, and high humidity. There are also petrified trees found near Lincoln Avenue east of I - 25 , a few miles south of Denver. The time period was similar. Swampy, coastal, jungle, lots of rain and around 64 Ma.

Look at the Scotese Videos to see roughly when the water left the continent. I suspect it took a longer time getting to maximum elevation, and a shorter time leaving the continent. 98.245.216.62 (talk) 22:04, 6 March 2022 (UTC)

Skull Creek Seaway

The article contains a very nice map of the Skull Creek Seaway. There is, however, no explanation of how this seaway relates to the Western Interior Seaway, nor is there a Skull Creek Seaway article. In fact, other than this map a single sentence in the next-to-last paragraph of the Tenontosaurus article seems to be the only mention of the Skull Creek Seaway in all of Wikipedia. Perhaps someone could fix this.... 71.235.184.247 (talk) 03:30, 28 July 2018 (UTC)

Seems to be a synonym. Removed regardless, it's redundant. Lythronaxargestes (talk | contribs) 04:06, 10 May 2020 (UTC)

Skull Creek Seaway is not a synonym for the Western Interior Seaway, it is a name used to refer to the extent, environment, climate, biology, tectonics, and lithology of the first geological sequence the Western Interior Seaway experienced, after which the seaway retreated such that a land bridge likely formed across Colorado. Each Western Interior Seaway sequence or cycle is generally named for the main, distinctive marine shale facies formed during the sequence, e.g., Skull Creek/Kiowa Seaway, Mowry-Muddy Seaway, (especially) Greenhorn Seaway, Niobrara Seaway, etc. Study of these sequences is foundational to hydrocarbon exploration in the region, and is a laboratory for climate research.

".... Longford rocks ... constitute the easternmost record of ... sediments that accumulated during transgression of the Kiowa sea."
".... the warm, humid climate that prevailed during Kiowa time."

The map that Lythronaxargestes removed may have been redundant in this sense; the accuracy with which the sequence maps can be drawn is limited and the nuances between the stages might not be readily apparent. (And, yes the removed map didn't have sufficient explanation for inclusion.)

I would love to have a collection of maps illustrating the maximal transgression and regressions of the seaway, but I have yet to find a source. IveGoneAway (talk) 01:04, 22 April 2021 (UTC) IveGoneAway (talk) 01:09, 22 April 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for clarifying. Stratigraphy isn't my forte. Lythronaxargestes (talk | contribs) 00:35, 23 April 2021 (UTC) 13:03, 23 April 2021 (UTC)

@Abyssal: Similarly, "Colorado Sea", like "Kansas Sea" or "Nebraska Sea", ect., is a restrictive synonym for Western Interior Seaway. IveGoneAway (talk) 13:10, 23 April 2021 (UTC)

References

When did the Western Interior Seaway reach its Maximum Sea Level Elevation ?

I did an estimated calculation of when the Western Interior Seaway reached its maximum water elevation, and depth and came up with an approximation of 89.5 Ma. When looking at the Scotese Videos, it shows around 84.0 Ma. Has anyone done any work on when the Maximum elevation and depth of the water was reached? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.245.216.62 (talk) 21:51, 6 March 2022 (UTC) 98.245.216.62 (talk) 22:09, 6 March 2022 (UTC)

Are you asking about the maximum elevation (Eustatic sea level) or the maximum water depth? There are two primary, not completely related controls of depth of water in the WIC; 1) the Eustatic sea level and the 2) the elevation of the seafloor. The amount of flexure, and therefore the elevation of the seafloor, oscillated a few times during the time of the seaway.

An earlier estimate was that the WIC was widest and deapest (in "Kan-orado") during the Greenhorn Sea, about the time of the top of the Greenhorn Limestone, Mid-Turonian, or 93 Mya.

• Donald E. Hattin (1975). Stratigraphy and Depositional Environment of Greenhorn Limestone (Upper Cretaceous) of Kansas, Kansas Geological Survey, Bulletin 209. University of Kansas Publications, State Geological Survey of Kansas. p. Depositional Environment and Paleoecology. Maximum transgression (Fig. 22) is represented by relatively pure pelagic carbonates of the Jetmore and Pfeifer Members of the Greenhorn; for this reason the sequence was named Greenhorn cyclothem by Hattin (1962, p. 124).

A second candidate would be the Niobrara Seaway, or 89-84 Mya.

I would need more time to look through the references (more later?)

IveGoneAway (talk) 23:31, 6 March 2022 (UTC)

@98.245.216.62: If you are still interested, last week, I did come across citation for whether the Greenhorn or Niobrara cycles were the maximum eustatic sea level of the WIS. I will add here later, but, in short both were close; and the meters' difference seems to me to be within the margin of error, BTJMO.

IveGoneAway (talk) 23:29, 7 April 2022 (UTC)