GEOLOGY HAPPENINGS - October 2024

National Fossil Day™ is celebrated every October. This year, October 9 is the day to highlight the scientific and educational value of paleontology and the importance of preserving fossils for future generations. Southeastern Utah has an abundant fossil record, with fossils of dinosaurs (both bones and tracks), petrified wood, and marine invertebrates. Much of the area around Moab consists of public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plus two national parks (Arches and Canyonlands), a national forest, and two state parks. Utahraptor State Park’s very name tells of its importance to paleontology was recently designated.

Moab has much to celebrate on National Fossil Day. People can mark the day by visiting one of the BLM’s interpretive fossil sites like the dinosaur tracks near the trailhead for the Poison Spider mountain bike/4WD loop or the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite, seeing fossils on display in the Moab Museum, or even visiting the Moab Giants Dinosaur Park and Museum.

Although there is only one such day designated for public celebrations of fossils, the work to protect fossils is a 365-day-a-year job for paleontologists with the BLM, National Park Service, and Utah Geological Survey. The majority of fossils on public lands are left in place for the public to experience and enjoy. It is also simply not practical for some fossils to be stored in museum collections given their size; particularly for large pieces of petrified wood and fossil trackways that continue for significant lengths.

Regular monitoring of fossil sites is an essential tool for the protection and preservation of fossils on public lands. All fossils on public lands are covered by the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act, a groundbreaking law passed in 2009 to protect them. This new law allows casual collecting from BLM lands of invertebrate fossils and limited quantities of petrified wood, and requires that federal agencies utilize scientific principles to manage and monitor fossils on all public lands. Archeological sites and artifacts on public lands have been protected by the Archaeological Resources Protection Act since 1979, and the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act is somewhat synonymous as both laws protect important parts of the past.

Monitoring fossil sites is important for multiple reasons. First, fossils that are in situ (in place) are exposed to the elements, which may naturally lead to their deterioration or even loss. Additionally, in situ fossils may be damaged by people, either inadvertently or purposefully, and are vulnerable even to theft. Important fossils in Utah have been stolen, including of dinosaur tracks from along the Hells Revenge Trail in 2014 and of fossil bone material from public lands near Moab in a 2023 case brought by the US Attorney’s Office in Utah.

Paleontological monitoring uses tools including photography and other techniques to assess the stability and condition of fossil sites. The BLM Moab Field Office also incorporates regular upkeep and maintenance of interpretive fossil sites as part of its monitoring protocol. The BLM works with volunteer groups, including the Utah Friends of Paleontology, to clean the Mill Canyon Tracksite twice a year. Cleaning ensures that the tracks are visible from the boardwalk and reduces abrasion and fracturing on track surface, both processes that can damage tracks.

The BLM also monitors other sites near Moab, including a newly discovered trackway in Grandstaff Canyon. Documentation at that site consisted of measurements, a 3D scan, and detailed notes. The site will be revisited regularly to determine how trail use and flooding may be impacting the trackway and the rock layer that it originated from. Monitoring this site may also lead to the discovery of more tracks as future flooding has the potential to reveal more.

Monitoring and protecting fossil sites on public lands benefits us all because fossils are part of our national heritage. Many of the most important and beloved fossils in the country are from public lands. Whether it is of fossils of the Utah state fossil (Allosaurus) or the Utah state dinosaur (Utahraptor), or even a chunk of petrified wood, fossils found on public lands near Moab have provided essential information about the history of life through geologic time. Special thanks to Emily Lessner.

A self-described “rock nerd,” Allyson Mathis is a geologist, informal geoscience educator and science writer living in Moab.
To learn more about Moab’s geology, visit the Geology Happenings archive online at https://www.moabhappenings.com/Archives/000archiveindex.htm#geology