Triassic Triassic The Triassic () is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.9 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period Mya. The Triassic is the first period of the Mesozoic Era. Both the start and end of the period are marked by major extinction events. The Triassic began in the wake of the Permian–Triassic extinction event, which left the Earth's biosphere impoverished; it would take well into the middle of this period for life to recover its former diversity. Therapsids and archosaurs were the chief terrestrial
Carabobo Field attributed to the formation of the field is when North America separated from Gondwanaland in the Late Triassic/Early Jurassic (~200 million years ago). The rifting in this period is represented by Late Jurassic basalts deposited in the Espino graben. This event led to the northern passive margin of South America. During the Cretaceous Period (~150 million years ago), the passive margin began to subside from organic rich sediments being deposited. This deposition includes the Querecual and San Antonio formations that would become source rocks for the Orinoco Oil Belt. The next tectonic event is referred to as a progressive collision