Cretaceous Cretaceous The Cretaceous (, ) is a geologic period and system that spans 79 million years from the end of the Jurassic Period million years ago (mya) to the beginning of the Paleogene Period mya. It is the last period of the Mesozoic Era, and the longest period of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cretaceous Period is usually abbreviated K, for its German translation "Kreide" (chalk, "creta" in Latin). The Cretaceous was a period with a relatively warm climate, resulting in high eustatic sea levels that created numerous shallow inland seas. These oceans and seas were populated with now-extinct marine reptiles,
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