earth science

Late Jurassic

Late Jurassic is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Late Jurassic rather than just read about it. In short: The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic period, and it spans the geologic time from 161.5 ± 1.0 to 143.1 ± 0.6 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata. In European lithostratigraphy, the name "Malm" indicates rocks of Late Jurassic age.

Key takeaways

Late Jurassic belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Late Jurassic to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Late Jurassic from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic period, and it spans the geologic time from 161.5 ± 1.0 to 143.1 ± 0.6 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata. In European lithostratigraphy, the name "Malm" indicates rocks of Late Jurassic age. In the past, Malm was also used to indicate the unit of geological time, but this usage is now discouraged to make a clear distinction between lithostratigraphic and geochronologic/chronostratigraphic units.

Subdivisions The Late Jurassic is divided into three ages, which correspond with the three faunal stages of Upper Jurassic rock:

Paleogeography

By the Late Jurassic, Pangaea had already broken apart into Laurasia (Eurasia and North America) to the north and Gondwana to the south, divided by the wide Tethys Ocean. During the Late Jurassic, narrow ocean basins formed separating Eastern Gondwana (Antarctica, Australia, India and Madagascar), Western Gondwana (Africa, Arabia and South America) and Laurasia. The young North Atlantic Ocean continues to widen as North America drifts to the north – brought increased moisture to the formerly highly arid subtropical interior of Pangaea. The Wrangellia terrane is accreted to Western North America.

Climate Deep ocean basins covered the poles, inhibiting the formation of polar ice caps. Polar summers were ice-free. The circulation of ocean currents between the high and low latitudes contributed to a generally warmer climate than today. Europe became progressively more arid over the Late Jurassic.

Life forms This epoch is well known for many famous types of dinosaurs, such as the sauropods, the theropods, the thyreophorans, and the ornithopods. Other animals, such as some crocodylomorphs and the first birds, appeared in the Jurassic. Listed here are only a few of the many Jurassic animals:

References

Owen, Donald E. (March 1987). "Commentary: Usage of Stratigraphic Terminology in Papers, Illustrations, and Talks". Journal of Sedimentary Petrology. 57 (2): 363–372. Kazlev, M. Alan (2002-06-28). "Late Jurassic — The Malm Epoch: The Acme of the Dinosaurs". Palæos. Retrieved 2014-10-23.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Late Jurassic

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Late Jurassic claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Late Jurassic before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Late Jurassic ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Late Jurassic

In research: Late Jurassic appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Late Jurassic in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Late Jurassic is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Geological epochs, Jurassic geochronology, Late Jurassic, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Late Jurassic outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Late Jurassic in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Late Jurassic means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Late Jurassic out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Late Jurassic in simple terms?

Why does Late Jurassic matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Late Jurassic?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Late Jurassic.