Death Valley National Park Paleontological Survey
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Death Valley National Park 1 Paleontological Survey Torrey G. Nyborg and Vincent L. Santucci Technical Report NPS/NRGRD/GRDTR-99/01 UnitedUnited States States Department Department of of the the InteriorNational InteriorNational Park Park ServiceGeological ServiceGeologic Resource Resource Division Division 3 Copies of this report are available from the editors. Geologic Resources Division 12795 West Alameda Parkway Acadamy Place, Room 480 Lakewood, CO 80227 Please refer to: National Park Service D-178 (May 1999) How to cite this document: Nyborg, T. G. and V. L. Santucci. 1999. The Death Valley National Park paleontological survey. National Park Service, Geological Resources Technical Report, NPS/NRGRD/GRDTR-99/01. Cover Illustration Fossil carnivore tracks from the late Miocene Copper Canyon Formation overlay boundary map of Death Valley National Park. THE DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK PALEONTOLOGICAL SURVEY Torrey G. Nyborg and Vincent L. Santucci National Park Service Geologic Resources Division 12795 West Alameda Parkway Academy Place, Room 480 Lakewood, CO 80227 NPS/NRGRD/GRDTR-99/01 1999 5 This publication is dedicated to park ranger/geologist H. Donald Curry 1908-1999 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCE PROTECTION Historical Background.............................................................1 Recommendations for Fossil Protection............................ 35 The Significance of Death Valleys Paleontological Resources..................................................... 2 RESEARCH Acknowledgements................................................................. 4 Current Research................................................................... 35 Proposed Research................................................................ 35 STRATIGRAPHY Permit System......................................................................... 35 Geological History................................................................... 5 Funding................................................................................... 36 Facies Changes in Publication Needs.................................................................. 36 Death Valley National Park..................................................... 6 Literature Surveys................................................................. 36 Death Valley National Park Stratigraphic Column............... 7 Rock Formations Exposed in COLLECTION AND CURATION Death Valley National Park..................................................... 8 Museum Collections............................................................. 36 Recommendations for Parks Fossil Collections............... 37 PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCES INVENTORY Photographic Archives......................................................... 37 Paleobotany............................................................................ 18 Recommendations for Photo Archives.............................. 37 Fossil Invertebrates............................................................... 18 Fossil Collections in Outside Repositories........................ 38 Fossil Vertebrates.................................................................. 23 Recommendations for Fossil Collections Trace Fossils.......................................................................... 24 in outside repositories.......................................................... 38 Recommended Taxonomy Projects..................................... 24 PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCES LOCALITIES NEAR DEATH VALLEY.......................................................... 38 Grapevine Mountain Region ............................................... 27 Owlshead Mountain Region ............................................... 27 REFERENCES........................................................................... 41 Tucki Mountain Region ....................................................... 27 Wildrose Region.................................................................... 27 APPENDIX A: Funeral Mountain Region ................................................... 27 Death Valley Paleo-Species List.......................................... 48 Black Mountain Region ....................................................... 28 Central Death Valley Region ............................................... 28 APPENDIX B: Cottonwood Mountain Region .......................................... 28 Death Valley Vertebrate Fossil Type Panamint Springs Region ................................................... 28 Specimens In Outside Repositories.................................... 56 Last Chance Range Region ................................................. 29 Regional Map......................................................................... 30 APPENDIX C: Saline Valley Region ............................................................. 31 Paleontological Localities Within Devils Hole Region ............................................................... 31 Death Valley National Park................................................... 59 Recommended Mapping Projects....................................... 31 APPENDIX D: INTERPRETATION Death Valley RMP Paleontological Current Interpretive Program............................................... 31 Resource Project Statements............................................... 60 Interpretive Theme................................................................ 31 Recommended Interpretive Actions................................... 32 PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT National Park Service Policy................................................. 32 Baseline Paleontological Resource Data Inventories ................................................................... 33 Recommended Paleontological Resource Management Actions.......................................... 33 1 The excellent exposures of rock in Death Valley offer a challenge to any geologist who attempts to study the complex geologic history of the Valley (Troxel, 1970) INTRODUCTION ecognizing the contributions that a paleontological R survey could provide to the management at Death Valley National Park, a strategy was developed to begin work in the largest National Park Service unit in the continental United States (Figure 1). Overcoming the high temperatures and limited available funding, a comprehensive inventory of all currently known sources of information regarding Death Valleys geology and paleontology was initiated in 1998. The work was accomplished through the voluntary efforts of the principal investigator and the staff paleontologist for the National Park Service Geologic Resources Division. By comparison to the other natural resources in Death Valley National Park, non-renewable fossil resources have received far less attention. Most of the credit for the initial understanding and recognition of the Death Valley geology and paleontology should rightfully go to Don Curry, the first ranger-naturalist at Death Valley. More recent work at the park includes research on Cambrian trilobites and Devonian fish. As this survey demonstrates, Death Valley contains very significant and diverse paleontological resources. It has been our privilege to work in Death Valley National Park. We hope that this document helps to increase the awareness and status of Death Valleys paleontological resources and provide a baseline from which future projects can be planned. We believe that the information contained in this report can enhance management decision making relative to paleontological resource issues and perhaps pave the way to future discoveries in Death Valley. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The search for gold and other minerals in the region drew a few prospectors into the Death Valley area in the late 1840s. The wealth of gold, silver, copper, lead and borate mineral deposits led to the establishment of mines in and around the valley. The first U.S. boundary commission visited Death Valley in 1861. The commission characterized the valley as a vast and deep pit, of many gloomy wonders. After the Civil War, the armys role in conducting topographic surveys was taken over by civilian parties. Figure 1: Location of Death Valley National Park. Ferdinand Hayden, John Wesley Powell and Clarence King were funded by Congress to initiate topographic and scientific surveys in the western territories. In 1867, the George M. Wheeler was assigned command of this survey first military expedition into the Death Valley area was (Bartlett, 1962). conducted under the command of Lieutenant C.E. Bendire. Wheeler recognized that the other surveys placed great In an effort to regain some of its pre-war responsibility, the emphasis upon geology, and the topographic work was army established the United States Geographical Surveys coordinated by the needs of the geologist. Wheeler believed West of the One-Hundredth Meridian. First Lieutenant that a topographic map was more essential to national 82 security than a geologic map. During 1871, the Wheeler Curry made many paleontological resource discoveries at Survey covered more than 72,000 square miles in the Great Death Valley including: Eocene titanothere remains from Basin of Nevada, eastern California, southwestern Utah, and Titus Canyon, plant fossils in the Furnace Creek Formation, portions of Arizona. new species of Tertiary fossil fish, and three fossil vertebrate Wheelers trip across Death Valley is documented in track localities, most notably the Copper Canyon Track the Wheeler Survey Geographical Reports (1887) and in Locality. During