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Paleozoic Era
299 to 251 Million Years Ago- Permian Period
The crustal plates of Earth configured together which formed a massive continent which is named Pangaea. The west side of North America was located under a shallow sea which set down a lot of limestone and dolomite.
https://www.nature.nps.gov/views/layouts/Main.html#/GeoTime/scale/Ord/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology_of_the_Rocky_Mountains -
Mesozoic Era
145 to 65 Million Years Ago- Cretaceous Period
Up to 15,000 feet of sediment was accumulated in 15 formations. The west part of the Western Interior covered the region.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology_of_the_Rocky_Mountains -
Paleozoic Era
488 to 443 Million Years Ago- Ordovician Period
There were many plate collisions that resulted in the creation of the continents of Laurussia. The southern remains rotated in a clockwise direction and they collided with Laurasia.
https://www.nature.nps.gov/views/layouts/Main.html#/GeoTime/scale/Ord/ -
Mesozoic Era
251 to 199 Million Years Ago- Triassic Period
Terranes began to collide, and Pangaea started to break apart. This was at the edge of the North American plate boundary.
https://www.nature.nps.gov/views/layouts/Main.html#/GeoTime/scale/Tri/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology_of_the_Rocky_Mountains -
Cenozoic Era
65 to 23 Million Years Ago- Paleogene Period
The rocks of this period were deposited recently, since they are either at or close to Earth's surface. These rocks have also been altered so that there is access to the rocks previous eras and interpretation is more simple.
https://www.nature.nps.gov/views/layouts/Main.html#/GeoTime/scale/Pal/ -
Cenozoic Era
2 Million Years Ago to Present Day- Quaternary Period
In the Rocky Mountains, there are granite and gneiss that is from the Ancestral Rockies. From the Cenozoic Era, there is volcanic rock in areas such as the San Juan Mountains. Erosion in Wyoming has turned inter-mountain basins into terrains that are relatively flat.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology_of_the_Rocky_Mountains
