Park Paleontology 7(3)
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National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Volume 7 Number 3 Park Paleontology Winter 2 0 0 3 Geologic Resources Division, Paleontology Program Zion National Park Paleontological Survey Table of Contents Zion National Park Paleontological Survey .1 Donald D. DeBlieux the Cretaceous Cedar Mountain and James I. Kirkland Dakota Formations, and Quaternary lake The Centennial Site, a Significant Discovery Utah Geological Survey deposits. While the eye of the visitor to in Wind Cave National Park ................... 2 Zion National Park is drawn to the POB 146100 Paleontology Internship Report – Wind Cave spectacular cliffs of Navajo Sandstone, Salt Lake City, UT 84114-6100 National Park and Mammoth Site of Hot the eye of the paleontologist is drawn to Springs .................................................4 The spectacular rocks exposed in Zion the strata exposed as slopes and ledges National Park, Utah, include many below the cliffs - those of the Kayenta, Dinosaur Depot Prepares Dinosaur Bones fossiliferous units ranging in age from Moenave, and Chinle Formations that are from Curecanti National Recreation Area Permian through Holocene. In known to contain significant vertebrate ........................................................... 5 cooperation with the Utah Geological fossils. Survey (UGS), National Park Service (NPS) Modern Forests of Mexico: An Analog to interns have been inventorying The most common vertebrate fossils the Ancient Forest at Florissant? ............. 6 paleontological resources within the found in Zion National Park are dinosaur park. The goal of this work is to identify tracks that are concentrated primarily in Recent Literature on Park Paleontology Resources ............................................ 8 new fossil localities and to assess the the Whitmore Point Member of the distribution of fossils within formations Moenave Formation, at the top of the to establish baseline paleontological Springdale Sandstone Member of the track record of Zion National Park is also resource data to support the Moenave Formation, and in the Kayenta pertinent to the investigations underway management and protection of non- Formation, all of Early Jurassic age. Prior at the recently discovered Johnson Farm renewable fossils. to Josh’s arrival in Zion, only four track tracksite in nearby St. George, Utah. The localities had been documented within Johnson Farm site preserves numerous This project was initiated in the summer the park; his work led to the discovery of trackways on many horizons within the of 1999 when NPS intern Joshua A. dozens of new track localities and Whitmore Point Member of the Moenave Smith (now a graduate student at the allowed us to predict areas having high Formation and is one of the most University of Utah) began an inventory of potential for track discoveries (Smith and significant tracksites ever discovered in paleontological resources within the park Santucci, 1999). The most common the western United States. Jenny under the direction of NPS paleontologist tracks found in these formations are McGuire, and St. George paleontologist Vince Santucci. Because most of this those of large and small three-toed Andrew Milner, discovered a significant work was done during the hot summer bipedal dinosaurs. The large tracks are tracksite in the Early Triassic Moenkopi months, the work was concentrated in placed in the ichnogenus (track-genus) Formation. This site is located the cooler confines of Zion Canyon. In Eubrontes while the smaller tracks are stratigraphically low in the section, below the summer of 2002, Don DeBlieux of assigned to Grallator. One site preserves the Virgin Limestone Member, and the UGS joined Josh for several weeks to several Eubrontes trackways with track preserves several types of tracks including continue work in Zion Canyon. In the spacing and directions suggestive of those of therapsids (mammal-like spring of 2003, recent Duke University possible gregarious behavior (Smith et al., reptiles). In fact, this may be the earliest graduate Jennifer McGuire began a 2002). In addition to Eubrontes and known Mesozoic tracksite in North three-month internship to continue the Grallator tracks and trackways, we found America. Further research is already inventory work. Don DeBlieux and Jim other types of tracks including four-toed, underway to more fully document this Kirkland (UGS) assisted her for several crocodile-like tracks, bird-like tracks, and site. weeks along with volunteers from the swim tracks. In the summer of 2002, we The Late Triassic Chinle Formation in Zion Utah Friends of Paleontology (UFOP). located the second known tracksite in National Park is composed of two units; Our work in 2003 took advantage of the the Navajo Sandstone at Zion. the resistant cap-forming Shinarump cooler spring temperatures to Conglomerate, and the overlying concentrate on some of the The tracks preserved in Zion are multicolored mudstones and sandstones stratigraphically lower formations, found important not only from a scientific of the Petrified Forest Member. The at lower elevations within the park. standpoint but also provide avenues for Shinarump Conglomerate was deposited Fossil-bearing formations within Zion interpretation to educate the many in braided-stream channels and is best National Park include the Permian-age visitors to Zion National Park. Different known for preserving abundant fossil Toroweap Formation and Kaibab modes of track preservation, combined wood and plant material. Bone is Limestone, the Triassic Moenkopi and with erosion, have produced many tracks sometimes found preserved in the Chinle Formations, the Jurassic Moenave, that are aesthetically quite appealing and Shinarump and a well-preserved reptile will be of interest to park visitors. The Kayenta, Navajo, and Carmel Formations, continued on page 7 Park Paleontology 1 The Centennial Site, a Significant Discovery in Wind Cave National Park Rodney D. Horrocks Physical Science Specialist Wind Cave National Park Figure 1: The Subhyracodon upper palette, the photo on the left was taken the day it was R.R. 1 Box 190 discovered and the other one month later, show the weathering that occurred during that Hot Spring, South Dakota 57747-9430 short time period. Photos by Greg McDonald and Rod Horrocks. [email protected] specimen (Fig. 1), we immediately final detail involved the arrangement for 605-745-1158 headed into the park headquarters to the park’s law enforcement staff to keep talk with the Superintendent, Linda L. the site secure once work began on the After a fruitless search in near 100- Stoll about this significant discovery. recovery operation. degree heat on July 23, we had split up to cover more ground on the way back Sitting in her office, we analyzed the When we returned to the site after one to the truck, when Dr. Greg McDonald discovery according to the guidelines month, we were surprised at the amount found some large fossil teeth weathering found in NPS 77, in the “Paleontological of weathering that had happened since out of a steep hillside. The previous day, Collect/Leave Simplified Flowchart”. The our initial discovery (Fig. 1). With a very Greg, the National Paleontological Superintendent readily supported an competent crew on hand, everybody Coordinator from the Geologic Resource emergency excavation to recover the started on their pre-assigned duties. Dr. Division (GRD), helped Wind Cave threatened fossils. Not only were we Benton was able to revise our preliminary National Park inventory the seven worried about fossil poaching or rapid identification of the skull, assigning it to localities of the Klukas Site, an weathering of the soft sediment, but we Subhyracodon (probably occidentalis), a Oligocene-aged deposit that is part of were also concerned about the proximity five-foot high, hornless rhino that lived the White River Group. During the of the fossils to an often-used bison approximately 32 million years ago, and inventory process we discovered three wallow. In order to protect the site in the not brontothere (much to Dr. Martin’s new localities (see “Resurvey of the interim, everybody at the meeting relief). After Megan and Gavin set up a White River Group Sites in Wind Cave agreed to keep the discovery secret. zero datum and a working point on a National Park” Park Paleontology, Vo. 7, true north/south line, we installed a no. 2, Fall 2003). With an extra day After Greg headed back to Denver, it metric grid over the site. We then used a before Greg headed back to Denver, we became obvious that no one had any total station GPS to map the location of decided to survey some additional White budget for this emergency excavation, so the exposed bones and locate the zero River exposures in the park. we had to find a way to do some datum. paleontology on a shoestring. After Dr. James Martin, from South Dakota completing the environmental screening When Greg started blocking around the School of Mines and Technology (SDSMT) form (ESF), we borrowed the necessary skull, he discovered disarticulated bones had determined through surveys excavation equipment from Badlands from the rest of the skeleton of the conducted in 1986 that these soft National Park and the Mammoth Site, rhino. As the blocking process claystones and siltstones exposed as and then we secured the return of Dr. progressed, we also started finding the scattered windows in the prairie of the McDonald. We also solicited the help of disarticulated remains of Mesohippus, a park represent the Scenic Member of the Dr. Rachel Benton of Badlands National small horse and Leptomeryx, a deer-like Brule Formation. This is the same part of Park and Megan Cherry, and Gavin mammal. The tortoise turned out to be the White River Group that is extensively McCullough, students at the South nearly complete, but badly disarticulated exposed at a much lower elevation to the Dakota School of Mines, who were due to weathering (Fig. 2). The rhino east of Wind Cave at Badlands National working as seasonal employees at remains seemed to be concentrated in Park However, Dr. Martin had never Badlands National Park and Dr.