Pennsylvanian facts for kids
The Pennsylvanian is a super cool time in Earth's history! It's an epoch, which is like a big chapter in our planet's story. It happened during the later part of the Carboniferous Period.
This amazing time started about 323 million years ago (that's a super long time!) and ended around 299 million years ago. It came after the Mississippian Epoch and before the Permian Period.
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The Age of Giant Forests
The Pennsylvanian Epoch is famous for its huge, swampy forests. These forests were so big and dense that they created the "coal measures" we find today. Coal is basically fossilized plants, and it's why this whole period is called the Carboniferous – "carbon-bearing."
These ancient forests grew in hot, wet, tropical areas. Imagine giant wetlands stretching across continents! They were especially active in forming coal between 315 and 300 million years ago.
Where Were These Forests?
These incredible forests were located right on the Earth's equator. The wetlands spread out from what is now North America all the way across to Europe and even China. This was possible because these continents were all joined together back then, forming a supercontinent called Laurussia.
One massive river plain, which was the heart of these wetlands, stretched for an incredible 5,000 kilometers (about 3,100 miles) from eastern Canada to the Ukraine. It was also about 700 kilometers (435 miles) wide! This means the Pennsylvanian wetlands were much, much larger than any wetlands we see on Earth today.
Amazing Plants and Animals
The main animals living in these coal forests were amphibians. They were very common and diverse. Think of creatures that could live both in water and on land, like giant salamanders or frogs!
The plants were just as impressive. Many of them were huge clubmosses, like the towering Lepidodendron. These weren't tiny mosses you see today; they were like giant trees, reaching high into the sky!
Earth's Climate Changes
About halfway through the Pennsylvanian Epoch, something big happened: the climate started to change. The warm, wet rainforest system began to collapse. The world became cooler and much drier.
Why Did the Climate Change?
The huge wetland forests ended because the land itself started to rise. This happened because the continent of Gondwana was slowly pushing against Laurussia. This massive geological pressure caused the land where the continents met to lift up.
The end of these vast coal-forming wetlands marks the end of the Carboniferous Period. Interestingly, China was far enough away from this collision, so its wetland forests continued to thrive for another 50 million years, even into the early Permian Period!
New Animals Emerge
As the climate became drier, a new type of animal became more common: the amniotes. Unlike amphibians, amniotes lay eggs that can survive on land, which was a huge advantage in a drier world.
These early amniotes included groups like Synapsids and Sauropsids. These are the ancient ancestors that would eventually lead to all reptiles and mammals, including us! Scientists believe these amazing egg-laying land animals probably first appeared in the Mississippian Epoch, just before the Pennsylvanian.
