Putting fossils on the map: Applying a geographical information system to heritage resources

Date
2015-12
Authors
Van ver Walt, M.
Cooper, A.K.
Netterberg, I.
Rubidge, B.S.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Academic of Science of South Africa (ASSAf).
Abstract
A geographical information system (GIS) database was compiled of Permo-Triassic tetrapod fossils from the Karoo Supergoup in South African museum collections. This database is the first of its kind and has great time applicability for understanding tetrapod biodiversity change though time more than 200 million years ago. Because the museum catalogues all differed in recorded information and were not compliant with field capture requirements, this information had to be standardised to a format that could be utilised for archival and research application. Our paper focuses on the processes involved in building the GIS project, capturing metadata on fossil collections and formulating future best practices. The result is a multi-layered GIS database of the tetrapod fossil record of the Beaufort Group of South Africa for use as an accurate research tool in palaeo- and geoscience research with applications for ecology, ecosystems, stratigraphy and basin development.
Description
Keywords
Spatial data, Permo-triassic, database, Karoo Supergroup
Citation
Van ver Walt, M. et al. 2015. Putting fossils on the map: Applying a geographical information system to heritage resources. South African Journal of Science 111(11/12): Article #2014-0371.