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An Inventory of Paleontological Resources Associated with National Park Service Caves

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An Inventory of Paleontological Resources Associated with National Park Service Caves INVENTORY OF PALEO RESOURCES FROM NPS CAVES 55 AN INVENTORY OF PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCES ASSOCIATED WITH NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CAVES Vincent L. Santucci, Jason Kenworthy, and Ron Kerbo Technical Report NPS/NRGRD/GRDTR-01/02 United States Department of the Interior•National Park Service•Geological Resource Division 56 SANTUCCI, KENWORTHY, AND KERBO - 2001 Copies of this report are available from the editors. Geological Resources Division 12795 West Alameda Parkway Academy Place, Room 480 Lakewood, CO 80227 Please refer to: National Park Service D-2231 (September 2001). Cover Illustration Photo of bear claw marks in the cave wall at Oregon Caves National Monument, Oregon. INVENTORY OF PALEO RESOURCES FROM NPS CAVES 57 AN INVENTORY OF PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCES ASSOCIATED WITH NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CAVES BY Vincent L. Santucci National Park Service PO Box 592 Kemmerer, WY 83101 Jason Kenworthy National Park Service PO Box 592 Kemmerer, WY 83101 Ron Kerbo National Park Service Geologic Resources Division 12795 West Alameda Parkway Academy Place, Room 480 Lakewood, CO 80227 Geologic Resources Division Technical Report NPS/NRGRD/GRDTR-01/02 September 2001 58 SANTUCCI, KENWORTHY, AND KERBO - 2001 INVENTORY OF PALEO RESOURCES FROM NPS CAVES 59 CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 1 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF PALEO RESOURCES ASSOCIATED WITH NPS CAVES ........................................ 2 PROTECTION OF PALEO RESOURCES ASSOCIATED WITH NPS CAVES .................................................. 3 AMISTAD NATIONAL RECREATION AREA ............................................................................................... 5 ARCHES NATIONAL PARK ........................................................................................................................... 5 BERING LAND BRIDGE NATIONAL PRESERVE ........................................................................................... 6 BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK ......................................................................................................................... 6 BIGHORN CANYON NATIONAL RECREATION AREA ................................................................................ 7 BUFFALO NATIONAL RIVER ........................................................................................................................ 7 CANYON DE CHELLY NATIONAL MONUMENT ......................................................................................... 8 CARLSBAD CAVERNS NATIONAL PARK .................................................................................................... 8 CEDAR BREAKS NATIONAL MONUMENT ................................................................................................10 CHANNEL ISLANDS NATIONAL PARK ......................................................................................................10 CHICKAMAUGA / CHATTANOOGA NATIONAL MILITARY PARK .........................................................11 COLONIAL NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK ...............................................................................................12 CORONADO NATIONAL MEMORIAL .........................................................................................................12 CRATERS OF THE MOON NATIONAL MONUMENT .................................................................................12 CUMBERLAND GAP NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK ...............................................................................13 GLEN CANYON NATIONAL RECREATION AREA ......................................................................................14 GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK ...........................................................................................................16 GREAT BASIN NATIONAL PARK ................................................................................................................24 GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK ..........................................................................................25 HALEAKALA NATIONAL PARK .................................................................................................................27 JEWEL CAVE NATIONAL MONUMENT ......................................................................................................27 60 SANTUCCI, KENWORTHY, AND KERBO - 2001 LAKE MEAD NATIONAL RECREATION AREA .......................................................................................... 28 LAVA BEDS NATIONAL MONUMENT ......................................................................................................... 28 MAMMOTH CAVE NATIONAL PARK ......................................................................................................... 28 NATCHEZ TRACE PARKWAY ...................................................................................................................... 30 NATURAL BRIDGES NATIONAL MONUMENT .......................................................................................... 31 OREGON CAVES NATIONAL MONUMENT ................................................................................................. 31 OZARK NATIONAL SCENIC RIVERWAYS ................................................................................................... 32 RUSSELL CAVE NATIONAL MONUMENT .................................................................................................. 33 SEQUOIA / KING’S CANYON NATIONAL PARKS ...................................................................................... 33 TIMPANOGOS CAVE NATIONAL MONUMENT ......................................................................................... 34 VALLEY FORGE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK ....................................................................................... 35 WILSON’S CREEK NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD ............................................................................................ 37 WIND CAVE NATIONAL PARK .................................................................................................................... 38 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK ............................................................................................................. 39 PALEO RESOURCES ASSOCIATED WITH CAVES NEAR NPS AREAS ...................................................... 39 MANAGEMENT OF PALEO RESOURCES ASSOCIATED WITH NPS CAVES ............................................. 41 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................................. 43 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................. 43 INVENTORY OF PALEO RESOURCES FROM NPS CAVES 61 This publication was inspired by and is dedicated to our friend Bob Higgins Chief, Science and Technology Branch Geologic Resources Division National Park Service 62 SANTUCCI, KENWORTHY, AND KERBO - 2001 INVENTORY OF PALEO RESOURCES FROM NPS CAVES 1 AN INVENTORY OF PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCES ASSOCIATED WITH NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CAVES ABSTRACT More than 3,600 caves and karst resources have been identified in at least 79 units of the National Park System. In 1998, the National Park Service Geologic Resources Division initiated a servicewide inventory of paleontological resources occur- ring in association with these caves. The inventory documented at least 35 park areas that preserved fossils within cave resources. Cave-paleontological resources are identified in two categories: 1) fossils preserved within the cave-forming bedrock, and 2) fossils accumulated within the caverns, chambers, or other openings in karst systems. Caves occur in both karst and non-karst areas. Karst caves, and features within them such as stalactites and stalagmites, are formed by a variety of processes. These processes include the dissolution and erosion of sedimentary and evaporitic rocks, and later deposition of minerals from the dissolution process. Within limestones, the remains of marine invertebrate and vertebrate fossils are typically preserved. Paleozoic limestones constitute the parent rock in which many cave and karst features develop in NPS administered areas. Therefore, the fossilized remains of Paleozoic fauna are often the most common types of paleontological resource associated with caves. Caves also form as the result of lava flows (lava tubes), wave action (littoral caves), and by the fracturing of rock (earth cracks). Cave feature development is documented from the Holocene back to the Eocene. Caves, sinkholes, solution tubes, and other karst features attract and can trap animals. Pleistocene and Holocene vertebrate remains are abundant in many caves. Rich deposits of fossil bone can develop either through the accumulation of remains associated with organisms inhabiting the cave, such as Neotoma (packrats), or through a variety of transport mechanisms. INTRODUCTION The first inventory strategy implemented by the National Park Service Geologic Resources Division n an effort to better document occurrences of pa- was directed to individual parks. This strategy was leontological resources within units of the National designed to survey all occurrences of fossils, including IPark Service (NPS), two inventory strategies
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