9320133 ` ` Fricker This project, a partnership between traditional paleontology and pioneering technology in photogrammetry, aerial and terrestrial mapping and surveying, image digitization and databasing, promises to revolutionize the science of paleontology. This project will map, photograph and digitize the world famous fossil dinosaur quarry at Dinosaur Nation Monument, as well as the quarry maps of the original rock face that no longer exists. The quarry rock face of what is now Dinosaur National Monument, near Vernal, Utah, was discovered by paleontologists in 1909. Subsequent excavation yielded over 7 million pounds of dinosaur fossils, including the finest preserved skeletons and skulls of over 20 species of Jurassic dinosaurs, now distributed in over 30 museums around the world. Only a portion of the original fossiliferous wall remains at the DNM visitor center, bearing about 1600 dinosaur bones mostly articulated skulls and skeletons in relief. A record of the entire original wall, with all of the dinosaurian elements in their original position, is preserved in a series of aged, disintegrating, hand drawn quarry maps at DNM and other museums. The overall goal of this project is to produce a digitized map of the entire quarry face, past and present, with all of the dinosaur elements in original position, linked to an interactive database of those elements. Investigators will attempt to combine emerging technologies in surveying, photogrammetry, computer aided mapping and advanced database design to map the entire face of the remaining quarry, photograph and calibrate the map grid to millimeter accuracy, scan the images into a digital record, r ecalibrate the position of the bones against the survey map, and produce a digitized map of the current rock face a DNM and its lode of dinosaur material. A second component involves scanning, digitizing, scaling and orienting hand drawn quarry maps of the missing rock faces and their fossils, and attaching these to the digital map of the current rock face to create a composite master digital map of this unique paleontological record. The third component is an interactive database of all of the dinosaur elements in the original and current quarry. The master digitized map will allow powerful approaches to taphonomic and geologic investigations that were hitherto impossible. The educational potential of this project is also enormous for informal science programs in museums and for classroom instruction. %%% This project will map, photograph and digitize the world famous fossil dinosaur quarry at Dinosaur National Monument, as well as quarry maps of the original rock face that no longer exists. Discovered in 1909, the quarry rock face of what in now Dinosaur National Monument, near Vernal, Utah, yielded the finest preserved skeletons and skulls of over 20 species of Jurassic dinosaurs. Only a portion of the original fossiliferous wall remains at the DNM visitor center, bearing about 1600 dinosaur bones mostly articulated skulls and skeletons in relief. A record of entire original wall, with all of the dinosaurian elements in their original position, is preserved in a series of aged, disintegrating, hand drawn quarry maps at DNM and other museums. h) 0*0*0* The overall goal of this project is to produce a digitized map of the entire quarry face, past and present, with all of the dinosaur elements in original position, linked to an interactive database of those elements. This project is new to paleontology and will, if successful, revolutionize the science by combining traditional approaches with emerging technologies in surveying, photogrammetry, computer aided m apping and advanced database design. The educational potential of this project is also enormous for informal science programs in museums and for classroom instruction. ***
