T263 Geology in the National Parks: Research, Mapping, and Resource Management

Wednesday, 7 November 2012
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
209AB

MANAGING AND MONITORING FOSSIL RESOURCES: RESULTS OF THE FIRST PALEONTOLOGIC RESOURCE SURVEYS IN CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK, DC, MD, WV

Paper number: T263-13
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 4:40 PM – 4:55 PM

Authors

Abstract

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park (CHOH) preserves a nineteenth century landscape on the banks of Potomac River from Washington, D.C., to Cumberland, Maryland. The park crosses three physiographic provinces, and the geologic formations exposed in CHOH range in age from nearly 600 to 230 Ma. Prior to 2011, Park Service investigations into the scope of paleontologic resources in CHOH were done through literature searches and initial site visits to selected areas of the park. In 2011, an intern was hired through the GSA GeoCorps America program to conduct resource surveys and write a management plan for paleontologic resources in the park. From May 2011 to July 2012, surveys were conducted throughout the park in order to document and inventory paleontologic resources, most of which were previously unknown to park management. The results of these surveys constituted the basis for the paleontologic resource management plan, the first management plan for paleontologic resources in CHOH.

Paleontologic resources in CHOH occur in both geologic and cultural contexts. Fifty-three paleontologic localities were documented in 2011-2012: 28 in geologic contexts and 25 in cultural contexts. The localities range in age from Upper Cambrian to Upper Triassic, with Paleozoic marine faunas representing the most common fossils observed. Each locality was photographed, documented with a Paleontology Database Form, and recorded with a handheld GPS unit; the condition of each locality was also assessed using a Locality Condition Assessment Form. A locality numbering system was devised for CHOH, and all locality documentation was entered into a Microsoft Access Database. The management plan lays out guidelines for a monitoring program for the continued preservation of fossil resources, provides recommendations and procedures for future paleontologic surveys in CHOH, and identifies opportunities for the interpretation of these resources.