Re: K/T Boundary?

[Jim Foley <jimf@strauss.psych.upenn.edu>]

>>>>> On Wed, 16 Nov 1994 09:20:13 -0500, sean.kerns@sdrc.com (Snake)
>>>>> said:

>> I know this is a really fundamental question, but remember, I'm new
>> to paleontology: What do the "K" and "T" stand for? Every book I
>> have uses the phrase "K/T boundary" merrily, but none of them 
>> define it. I hhave inferred that it occurred at the end of the
>> Cretaceous, and in that context, "T" could be "Tertiary", but
>> what is "K"? "Mesozoic" doesn't start with "K", nor does 
>> "Cretaceous"... If someone could define that for me, I'd really
>> appreciate it; it's been driving me nuts.
>> Thanks.

Besides the fact that the letter C was already in use, K is the first
letter in the German word for chalk, from which the word Cretaceous is
derived.


--
Jim Foley                                    (303) 223-5100 x9765
Jim.Foley@FtCollinsCO.NCR.COM                NCR-MPD Fort Collins

  I've got a plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it
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