U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY USGS PERMO-CARBONIFEROUS FOSSIL LOCALITY REGISTER PART 2: KANSAS PC-FILES by Thomas W. Henry1 and Patricia A. Holroyd1 Open-File Report 93-549 This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U.S. Geological Survey editorial standards (or with the North American Stratigraphic Code). Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. 'Denver, Colorado 80225-0046 1993 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Table of Contents ...................................................... / Introduction .......................................................... 1 Introduction to the PC-FILES Series ........................................ 1 Components of Subsequent PC-FILES Reports .................................. 2 Systems Requirements ................................................... 2 Hardware and Software ................................................ 2 PC-FILES Diskettes .................................................. 2 Limitations of PC-FILES .................................................. 2 Structure of dBASE for PC-FILES and KSPCFILE.dbf ............................... 3 PC-Catalogue Number Fields ............................................ 5 Geographic Fields ................................................... 5 Stratigraphic and Age Fields ............................................. 8 Collector and Related Fields ............................................. 11 Type of Fossils Field ................................................. 12 Miscellaneous Fields .................................................. 12 References Cited ....................................................... 12 Appendix 1: Printout of PC-FILES for Kansas (KSPCFILE.dbf) .......................... 13 FIGURE INDEX Figure 1. Map of Kansas showing counties in which USGS collections exist .................. 6 TABLE INDEX Table 1. Structure of dBASE IV fields for KSPCFILE.dbf ............................. 4 2. List of counties for which USGS collections exist in Kansas ...................... 5 3. List of 7 1/£-minute quadrangle names used in KSPCFILE.dbf ..................... 7 4. List of group names used in KSPCFILE.dbf ................................ 8 5. List of formation names used in KSPCFILE.dbf ............................. 9 6. List of member names used in KSPCFILE.dbf .............................. 10 7. List of collector names used in KSPCFILE.dbf .............................. 11 DISKETTE INDEX Volume: KANSAS. Files: KSPCFILE.dbfandABBREV.doc .......................... (in pocket) USGS PERMO-CARBONIFEROUS FOSSIL LOCALITY REGISTER PART 2: KANSAS PC-FILES INTRODUCTION This Open-File Report is the second in a series of reports in which locality and age data are presented for upper Paleozoic invertebrate fossil collections of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). These locality and age data are derived from the Permo-Carboniferous1 Fossil Locality Register (PC-Register) and have been entered in a computerized database referred to as PC-FILES2. dBASE IV has been used to enter and access records. In the present report, locality and age data are presented for collections from the State of Kansas. These data are provided in text form in Appendix 1 and distributed as a dBASE file, KSPCFILE.dbf, on the accompanying diskette. This report also contains a brief introduction to the PC-FILES database and its specific application to the Kansas database. PC-FILES is a part of the National Paleontological Data Base (NPDB), a thematic geologic database mandated by the National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 (P.L. 102-285). When completed, PC-FILES will comprise more than 45,000 discrete invertebrate fossil locality records from upper Paleozoic sections (Mississippian through Permian) from all states from which UGSG collections have been made. Introduction to the PC-FILES Series Part 1 of this Open-File Report series (Henry, Williams, and Holroyd, 1993) is the introduction to the PC-Fossil Locality and the computerized databases, PC-FILES. That report describes the purpose of the database and the protocols (standards) used for PC-FILES. The Part 1 report contains listings of the other USGS paleontologic databases used by the Branch of Paleontology and Stratigraphy of the USGS, the sites of repository for the various collections, and a detailed discussion of the USGS Permo-Carboniferous Fossil Locality Register. That report includes sections on the procedure for assignment of the PC-Numbers, record keeping, limitations of the files, protocols for data entry (including abbreviations used in the records), systems requirements, procedures used in updating the records, and structure of the computerized PC-Fossil Locality Register (PC-FILES). Information critical for the use of KSPCFILE.dbf is repeated in the current text. However, the user should obtain USGS Open-File Report 93-513 for more detailed discussions and for examples of using dBASE in manipulation of the information in PC-FILES. 1 The term "Permo-Carboniferous" has been applied to this database since its beginning in the 1880's. It is a term informally used in reference to the upper Paleozoic geologic systems (i.e., the Mississippian, Pennsylvanian, and Permian) and particularly to the invertebrate fossil locality register (PC-Register) for the upper Paleozoic. 2 The original cards that make up the PC-Register are 4- by 5-inch and 5- by 7-inch library cards on which pertinent information for a given fossil collection has been typed or entered by hand. The entire set of card files for the upper Paleozoic fossil collections is referred to as the PC-Register. 1 Components of Subsequent PC-FILES Reports The current report for the State of Kansas and all subsequent reports in this series present the fossil locality data by State or region in dBASE. The database files included on the diskettes are keyed to the appropriate State by their U.S. Postal Service abbreviation. For example, the database accompanying the current report for Kansas is KSPCFILE.dbf. All of the State database files are provided as read-only files in order to protect the integrity of the distributed data. The diskettes accompanying this and subsequent reports in this series also will contain an ASCII file, ABBREV.doc, that lists all abbreviations used in PC-FILES. These abbreviations are for directions, location, measurements, miscellaneous surveying, highways and roads, natural geographic features, lithologic and stratigraphic terminology, rock color, textural and bedding features, organizations, and fossil types. These tables can be converted from ASCII text into any one of several word processing systems or printed out directly from the ASCII file (ABBREV.doc) itself. SYSTEMS REQUIREMENTS Hardware and Software Because the data in PC-FILES are provided as dBASE records, the hardware requirements are the same as for dBASE IV i.e., an IBM-PC, -XT, -AT, or compatible computer. A hard-disk drive with a minimum of 3.5 MB free is required to use dBASE IV. A minimum of 640 K RAM with at least 450 K available to run files is needed. Also, a floppy disk drive capable of accessing high-density (1.2 MB) 514 -inch or 3 !/£-inch diskettes is necessary to access the files distributed on diskette. The minimum software requirements are: (1) any DOS version 2.2 or higher; and (2) dBASE IV, version 1.1 or higher. The PC-FILES can also be accessed through dBASE III Plus, but we recommend using dBASE IV. Additionally, a word-processing system capable of handling ASCII files is strongly recommended. PC-FILES Diskettes Either 5V4-inch high-density diskettes or 3'/4-inch disks are used to distribute State PC-FILES. The data are not compressed. Some databases will exceed standard diskette capacity and will be released on more than one diskette. KSPCFILE.dbf is released on a single diskette. LIMITATIONS OF PC-FILES Few databases are error-free. The following precautions must be kept in mind when using the Kansas State PC-FILES database (KSPCFILE.dbf). The following quotation is from Henry, Holroyd, and Williams (1993, p. 4-5). The PC-Register has been kept by approximately four generations of geologists and technicians. The oldest records date to the early 1880's, a few years after the Survey was founded. For nearly 40 years, ending in 1987, Harold T. Saunders, employed by the USGS at the National Museum of Natural History, faithfully kept up the locality data for the PC-Register. It is the largest database for upper Paleozoic fossil invertebrates in the world. However, the PC- Register cannot be regarded as a static entity, because the information contained in it is subject to error and reinterpretation. Areas in which such error and/or reinterpretation affect the data found in the register are discussed below. Although carefully maintained and appended, the PC-Register is not error-free. Some mistakes certainly occur within the computerized files. These are understandably ascribable to any one or a combination of the following sources: (1) mistakes may have been made in the field by the original geologist or collector; (2) errors may have been introduced in transcription or interpretation of the information from the field label and/or collector's notebook into the locality register itself; (3) subsequent "corrections" or attempts to update information in the PC-Register by any of dozens of research geologists or technicians may have introduced errors, although an attempt has been made to clearly distinguish between