The Turgai Sea, also known as the Turgay Sea, Turgai Strait, Obik Sea, Ural Sea or West Siberian Sea, was a large shallow body of salt water (an epicontinental or
epeiric sea
An inland sea (also known as an epeiric sea or an epicontinental sea) is a continental body of water which is very large and is either completely surrounded by dry land or connected to an ocean by a river, strait, or "arm of the sea". An inland se ...
) during the
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretace ...
through
Cenozoic
The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configu ...
Eras. It extended north of the present-day
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central A ...
to the "paleo-Arctic" region, and was in existence from the
Middle Jurassic to
Oligocene, approximately 160 to 29 million years ago.
The Turgai Sea was not absolutely continuous throughout this entire era, though it was a persistent and predominating feature in its region; it "fragmented southern Europe and southwestern Asia into many large islands, and separated Europe from Asia."
The division of the
Eurasia
Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelag ...
n landmass by the Turgai Sea had the effect of isolating animal populations.
One of the better known groups are the
ceratopsian
dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
s during the
Cretaceous Period, which were restricted to Asia and western North America that were connected for much of the era. The existence of the Turgai Sea also restricted various freshwater fish and amphibians.
The Turgai Sea derives its name from the
Turgay Basin Turgay is a Turkish given name for males. People named Turgay include:
* Turgay Avcı, Turkish Cypriot politician
* Turgay Bahadır, Turkish-Austrian footballer
* Turgay Gemicibasi, Turkish footballer
* Turgay Semercioğlu, Turkish footballer
* Tu ...
of modern-day
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
, where a stretch of the
Turgai River
The Turgay ( orɣai"Tour-GUY") (also known as Torgai, Torghay or Turgai; kk, Торғай, Romanised: ''Torğai''; russian: Тургай Romanised: ''Turgay'') is a river in Kazakhstan. flows.
Tectonic units and division of the South Turgay Basin.
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See also
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References
Historical oceans
Jurassic paleogeography
Cretaceous paleogeography
Paleogene paleogeography
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