Some Strategies for Helping to Locate Paleontological/Geological Localities &
Less “Findable” Historic Localities
Defining a Paleontological “Locality”
• Historically age & stratigraphy associated with locality (paleontological context)
Locality 5
Locality 1
Locality 2
Locality 3
Locality 4
GPS 1
GPS 2
GPS 3
GPS 4
GPS 5
Formation A
Formation B
Formation C
Formation D
Formation E
Formation F
Formation G
Formation H
Surface
GPS 1
Locality 5
Locality 1
Locality 2
Locality 3
Locality 4
Our “current” database model
ties stratigraphy & ageto our localities
Some specimens are more sensitive to slight changes than others for varying reasons:• Size of specimen vs. thickness of strata
• Condensed & expanded intervals
Defining a Paleontological “Locality”
Microfossils
SporesPollen
Ostracods/Ostracodes
“Expanded”
“Condensed”
Farms/RanchesMines/Quarries
Ghost Towns/Railroad SidingsField Conferences/Society Fieldtrips
Other Collection Records
Distance from Points
GIS Datasets
Publications
Public Land Survey System (PLSS) CoveragesTIGERfiles (features and data derived from Census) Topographic Maps (DRGs)Aerial Photographs (DOQQs)Surface Geology CoveragesAquifer CoveragesNational Elevation Datasets (NEDs)HypsographyHydrology Datasets & CoveragesLandsat ImageryEtc.
http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/mapproj/mapproj_f.html
GIS Datasets must have:• Projection, coordinate system, and datum • Scale• Source• Accuracy
Maps/Gazetteers/Atlases
Websites
Sometimes Even the Government Gets Things Wrong
Source of Data:Robert W. Baughman's
“Kansas Post Offices, May 29, 1828-August 3, 1961”
Residues
Reserves/Bulk
Will be georeferencing to
surface of well/where well permit issued for(How to account for
core drift from drilling, TBA)
GPS 1
Locality 5
Locality 1
Locality 2
Locality 3
Locality 4
Well/Core Related Localities
© University of Texas @ Austin, 2000 [Color added]
Have not determined how to
handle verifying plotting correctly
Macrofossils
Modern example
but historical records also
exist
“Idealized” Core
How we need to think about localities
Points
Lines
Polygons
Buffered Points
Buffered Lines
Buffered Polygons
GIS Datasets
GeoreferencingProcess
Representation of
Collection Locality
Digitizing Maps with “localities” marked
• Use ArcGIS to georectify/georeference maps scanned at known scale/resolution to appropriate datum
• Use ArcGIS to digitize marking made by collectors and former museum workers into GIS layer(s)
Digitizing Features
Map Rectified to GIS
Digital Coverage of Features
Scanned in Map
Creating GIS coveragesfrom marked or undigitized maps
GIS Processing
Using Geology to limit “localities”
© Landis, 2005
Illustration of Geology with Relief
Outcrops
Geology
Field Picture Showing Outcrop
© Landis, 2005
© Landis, 2005
Document, Document, Document
Where You Have Looked,What You Found, &
What You Didn’t Find…
…you never knowwhen it might helpyou or a researcher
understandthe record or other
records
Discovered during field work
Providing new source of information…
that museum’s documentation of Terra
Cotta Train Depot
RelocatedTerra Cotta Train
Depot(now part of a museum
What Showson Topographic Map
(only cemetery & a railroad marker remains)
• Maps/Gazetteers/Atlases–Map title, publisher, scale, year,
type, sheet/page number
• Books/Journals– Title, author(s)/editor(s)/publisher,
year, ISSN/ISBN/identifying numbers
• Websites– Title, URL, access date
• Field Notes/Labels/Written Catalog/Collection Records/Files
What to Document
Margaret LandisPaleobotany, Micropaleontology, & Mineralogy Collection Manager (& Experienced GIS User)
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
What Mentioned
I Am Willing toDiscuss My Experiences,
Answer Questions,&/Or
Brainstorm Possible Strategies to Locating Less
Findable Localities
What Could Have Discussed