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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.Erimus21:36, 17 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]
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)[reply]
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)[reply]
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)[reply]
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)[reply]
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)[reply]
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)[reply]
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)[reply]
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)[reply]
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."[1] ".... the warm, humid climate that prevailed during Kiowa time."[1]
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 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)[reply]
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.
@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.