Page "Cretaceous" Paragraph 14

The Cretaceous is justly famous for its chalk ; indeed, more chalk formed in the Cretaceous than in any other period in the Phanerozoic.

Mid-ocean ridge activity — or rather, the circulation of seawater through the enlarged ridges — enriched the oceans in calcium ; this made the oceans more saturated, as well as increased the bioavailability of the element for calcareous nanoplankton.

These widespread carbonates and other sedimentary deposits make the Cretaceous rock record especially fine.

Famous formations from North America include the rich marine fossils of Kansas's Smoky Hill Chalk Member and the terrestrial fauna of the late Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation.

Other important Cretaceous exposures occur in Europe ( e. g., the Weald ) and China ( the Yixian Formation ).

In the area that is now India, massive lava beds called the Deccan Traps were erupted in the very late Cretaceous and early Paleocene.