CENOZOIC ERA: AGE OF MAMMALS 



585 



of the movements appear to have been accompanied by igneous 

 activity. 



The presence of extensive Miocene beds in Australia, New Zealand, 

 north Africa, and elsewhere tell their story of submergence. 



Pliocene 



Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. — With a few exceptions, the eastern 

 coast of North America had practically the same position in the Plio- 

 cene (Fig. 532) as 

 now. The Atlantic 

 coast from New York 

 northward extended 

 farther out than 

 at present; Florida 

 was, for the most 

 part, under water; 

 and a very narrow 

 belt along the Gulf 

 coast from Florida 

 to Texas and another 

 in Mexico were sub- 

 merged. This being 

 the case, the con- 

 spicuous deposits are 

 naturally those laid 

 down upon the land, 

 the marine sediments 

 being now chiefly 

 hidden from view 

 beneath the sea. The 

 comparatively wide 

 distribution of these 

 continental sedi- 

 ments is due in the 

 first place to their 

 recent age, and in 



the second place to the fact that some of them occupy sites of 

 continued deposition, as, for example, in the Great Basin region. 

 These deposits have an origin similar to those of previous epochs 



Fig. 532. — Map showing the probable outline of 

 North America during a portion of the Pliocene. The 

 continental deposits are shown in solid black. (Modified 

 after Schuchert.) 



