The Jurassic in Virginia, US

Paleontology and geology

During the Jurassic, the Atlantic Ocean began to open as Pangea continued to break apart. Several of the east-flowing rivers of Virginia, including the James and Roanoke, developed at this time. Virginia, along with the rest of eastern North America, gradually began to shift northward into higher latitudes and cooler climates. Few fossils have been documented from the Jurassic of Virginia, but there are some terrestrial and freshwater fossils preserved in the rift basin sediments of the Piedmont Province.