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

恐龙的足迹和轨迹提供了关于古代生命形式的宝贵信息，引起了公众的极大兴趣。然而，日益增长的城市化危及它们的保护。在德克萨斯州中部尤其如此，那里的大都市人口每年增长1.7%，这使得暴露在农村地区和小溪中的恐龙足迹处于危险之中。其他破坏来源包括短暂的洪水和气候变化加剧的风化。该提案将使用先进的图像技术以数字格式保存三个重要的遗址，并将包括对收集的岩石样本的分析，以提供有关这些恐龙生活的景观的信息。新的数据将被整合到德克萨斯州圣安东尼奥的维特博物馆，在那里它可以用于科学研究，并教育公众关于保存最佳做法和大约1.1亿年前德克萨斯州中部的生命生态。该项目将邀请来自四家研究机构的研究人员参与，他们将指导非传统的研究生和本科生，巩固他们对地球科学的兴趣，并将他们留在专业中。该项目将提供沉积环境和促进痕迹化石保存的条件。利用摄影测量技术对每个地点进行数字化，并辅以利用显微镜和地球化学对岩石样本进行详细分析。结果将评估恐龙足迹是否优先保存在海平面下降期间沉积的浅海沉积物中，当时它们频繁暴露在炎热干燥的气候下，有利于它们的早期岩化和保存。或者，在炎热潮湿的环境中，用富含粘土的沉积物快速掩埋可以增强保存。地球化学和岩石学数据也将用于检验这些假设。将所有结果整合到一个可供研究人员和公众使用的数据库中，将展示德克萨斯州的文化遗产，并作为未来研究的基础。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.