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PREHISTORIC IOWA
What was Iowa like 74 million years ago, near the end of the
Cretaceous period? We'll never know exactly, but thanks to scientific
research, we're able to paint a pretty descriptive picture of
what the region was like at that time.
During the late Cretaceous period, just before the meteorite
struck Manson, central Iowa was near the shoreline of the Western
Interior Seaway The Western Interior Seaway was a shallow
inland sea that, at times, reached as far north as the Arctic
Sea and as far south as the Gulf of Mexico, completely dividing
the eastern and western landmasses of what we now call North America.
Iowa's low-lying landscape was a mixed conifer and deciduous
forest, rich with ferns and flowering plants. The climate, similar
to that of the Gulf Coast today, was warm and moist. While reptiles
dominated the land, other creatures such as small mammals, birds,
dinosaurs and insects also were abundant. Everything about this
tropical environment changed dramatically the moment the stony
meteorite collided with the Earth at Manson, Iowa.
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