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| Above, fossils on display at Petrified Forest National Park's Rainbow Forest Museum. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Along with ancient forests, Petrified Forest National Park has been a source for fossils over the years.
A new tool, satellites, can potentially aid paleontologists in finding areas that may contain fossils.
According to the Sedona Red Rock News:
Satellite imagery has the potential to assist paleontologists in focusing their efforts where to look for new fossil discoveries and help land managers monitor paleontological resources according to new research conducted at Petrified Forest National Park by the University of Oregon published in the journal Geological Magazine in November.
“The potential applications of finding fossil-rich areas using chemical differences visible from space are limitless,” said PEFO paleontologist Adam Marsh in a recent email. ”It could help us identify particularly sensitive areas to protect in the park and also those that might be more scientifically significant for our research.”
This is the first time researchers have attempted to locate individual fossils on the landscape while previous works focused on looking for outcrops for fossil excavation. The project’s goal is to be able to get huge areas mapped using satellites, so people don’t have to physically set foot in those areas to reduce workloads and increase worker safety according to UO paleontologist Edward Davis.
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