The Cretaceous in South Carolina, US

Paleontology and geology

During the Cretaceous, the Appalachian Mountains were eroding onto the submerged coastal plain. This time period is represented in South Carolina by marine deposits that contain fossils from organisms that lived in the sea, as well as those of terrestrial organisms whose remains had been carried to the sea. Fossils, such as the oysters Exogyra and Pycnodonte, indicate that the climate was tropical. Several unidentified dinosaurs are known from the state. This map indicates the presence of Cretaceous rocks in the northern part of the state.