Paleontological Resource Inventory and Monitoring: Southeast Coast Network

Tweet, Justin; Santucci, Vincent; Kenworthy, Jason

Paleontological resources (fossils) are any remains of past life preserved in a geologic context. Paleontological resources are non-renewable resources found in at least 208 National Park Service units. Despite the abundance and diversity of these resources throughout the NPS, until recently few parks have adequate baseline paleontological resource data. The NPS National Inventory and Monitoring Program and the NPS Geologic Resources Division have developed various strategies to provide parks with the baseline paleontological resource data necessary for greater understanding and appropriate management of these resources. This report presents a paleontological resource summary for the parks of the Southeast Coast Network. The summary was compiled through extensive literature reviews and interviews with park staff and professional geologists and paleontologists. Preliminary paleontological resource management recommendations are also included for each park. Similar summaries have already been prepared for 22 other NPS Inventory and Monitoring Networks. The National Inventory and Monitoring Program provided funding to complete these paleontological resource summaries for each of the remaining networks. In general, the paleontological resources known from the parks of the Southeast Coast Network are of late Cenozoic age. Canaveral National Seashore (CANA), Cape Hatteras National Seashore (CAHA), and Cape Lookout National Seashore (CALO) have produced a variety of marine invertebrates from the Pleistocene and Holocene, mostly mollusks; CANA and CAHA also have mammal fossils, either from the park itself (CAHA) or the immediate vicinity (CANA). Castillo de San Marcos National Monument (CASA) and Fort Matanzas National Monument (FOMA) include historic forts built from deposits of semi-consolidated Pleistocene shells. Deposits from the last few tens of thousands of years in the floodplain at Congaree National Park (CONG) have been used to detail its past climate. Cumberland Island National Seashore (CUIS) is a well-known location for fossil shark teeth collecting, and has a variety of other fossil resources, including microfossils and marine invertebrates. Tabby construction at CUIS, Fort Frederica, and Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve (TIMU) may have incorporated paleontological resources and artifacts from prehistoric shell middens. Microfossils have been recovered from below the surface at Fort Pulaski National Monument (FOPU) and Fort Sumter National Monument (FOSU). Fossiliferous rocks may have been used as building or riprap material at Moores Creek National Battlefield (MOCR). Ocmulgee National Monument (OCMU) has several items of paleontological interest associated with cultural resources. Finally, park museum collections, mostly reposited at the Southeast Archeological Center (SEAC), include fossil resources from CAHA, CANA, CASA, CUIS, FOFR, FOMA, FOSU, OCMU, and Fort Raleigh National Memorial (FORA), the latter not included in the SECN but of interest because of its physical proximity and geological similarity to CAHA. To date, the best known of these finds are skulls of a musk ox and walrus from CAHA, the shell construction at CASA, the paleoclimate indicators of CONG, the shark teeth and marine invertebrates of CUIS, and the specimens associated with the cultural resources at OCMU.

Paleontological Resource Inventory and Monitoring: Southeast Coast Network

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