Mesozoic the Phanerozoic Eon, preceded by the Paleozoic ("ancient life") and succeeded by the Cenozoic ("new life"). The era is subdivided into three major periods: the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous, which are further subdivided into a number of epochs and stages. The era began in the wake of the Permian–Triassic extinction event, the largest well-documented mass extinction in Earth's history, and ended with the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, another mass extinction whose victims included the non-avian dinosaurs. The Mesozoic was a time of significant tectonic, climate and evolutionary activity. The era witnessed the gradual rifting of the supercontinent Pangaea into separate landmasses
Angola Basin by gravity spreading and increased sediment loading, major factors which act upon the Angola Basin. In the basin this tectonic mechanism is attributed to three periods of high strain that occurred at approximately 96, 28, and 10 million years ago, and the most recent high strain activity is still ongoing. These high strain rates lasted anywhere from 15 to 36 million years while rafting itself lasted from 7-10 million years. The formation of the Angola Basin can be divided into three phases of rifting which took place from approximately 145-113 million years ago from the Jurassic to the Cretaceous. Initial