RAPID/Collaborative Research: Digitizing Early Cretaceous dinosaur trackways to preserve the geological heritage of central Texas

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Dinosaur tracks and trackways provide invaluable information about ancient lifeforms and are of great interest to the general public. Yet, increasing urbanization jeopardizes their preservation. This is especially true in central Texas where the metropolitan population grows by 1.7% yearly, and puts dinosaur tracksites exposed in rural areas and creeks at risk. Other sources of destruction include transient flood and weathering enhanced by climate change. This proposal will preserve three important sites in a digital format using advanced imagery techniques and will include analysis of collected rock samples to provide information about the landscape where these dinosaurs lived. New data will be integrated into the Witte Museum in San Antonio, Texas, where it can be used for scientific research and to educate the general public on preservation best practice and the ecology of life in central Texas about 110 million years ago. This project will engage researchers from four institutions with a strong track record on the topic and they will mentor non-traditional graduate and undergraduate students to solidify their interest in the geosciences and retain them in the major. This project will inform on the depositional environment and the conditions that promoted the preservation of trace fossils. The digitization of each site using photogrammetric techniques will be complemented by detailed analysis of rock samples using microscopy and geochemistry. Results will evaluate whether dinosaur tracks are preferentially preserved in shallow marine sediments deposited during periods of sea-level fall, when their frequent subaerial exposure under a hot and dry climate favored their early lithification and preservation. Alternatively, preservation may be enhanced by rapid burial with clay-rich sediment in a hot and humid environment. Geochemical and petrographic data also will be used to test these hypotheses. The integration of all results in a database available to researchers and the general public will showcase the cultural heritage of Texas and serve as a basis for future research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.