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 Geological
Sciences
How to Excavate a Fossil - Online Exhibit
The Barstow Fossil Beds - Online Exhibit
Geological Sciences Research
The Division of Geological Sciences encompasses paleontology,
mineralogy and geology, and a library of geological references,
periodicals, journals, and gray literature.
The Division of Geological Sciences holds more than half a million
fossils of extinct vertebrates and invertebrates, primarily from
the southwestern United States with an emphasis on San Bernardino
and Riverside Counties. The Division has nearly 200,000 specimens
recorded in a computer database with associated contextual information,
and is currently in the process of upgrading this database. Collections
of particular interest include:
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Quintin Lake, San Bernardino County Museum paleontology crew member, with a mastodon skull from the Diamond Valley Lake Project. |
late Pleistocene fossils from Diamond Valley Lake outside
of Hemet in Riverside County, as well as other sites throughout
the inland valley area;
- later Pliocene to late Pleistocene fossils from throughout
the Mojave Desert, including Kokoweef Cave, Antelope Cave, the
Fort Irwin region, the Piute Valley, Valley Wells, Daggett,
and the Victorville/Hesperia region of San Bernardino County;
- middle Pliocene to middle Pleistocene fossils from the San
Timoteo Badlands along the San Jacinto Fault Zone in Riverside
County;
- early Pliocene and early to middle Pleistocene fossils from
Murrieta and Temecula
along the Elsinore Fault Zone in Riverside County;
- middle Miocene vertebrate fossils and fossil trackways from
in and around the Barstow Fossil Beds, type locality for the
Barstovian North American Land Mammal Age;
- later Jurassic dinosaur trackways from the easternmost Mojave
Desert.
Fossils from these sites have greatly expanded knowledge of the
fossil animals and plants that roamed southern California thousands
and millions of years ago. Studies of these fossils by the Division
of Geological Sciences have resulted in the discovery and description of new
taxa, as well as the expansion of our knowledge of the geographic
range and morphological variation of established species. These
investigations have also enabled the staff of the Division of
Geological Sciences to advance new interpretations regarding the
sequence and timing of deposition of fossil-bearing strata throughout
southern California.
The Division of Geological Sciences also performs paleontologic
management services including: assessments of sensitivity;
plans for mitigation of impacts to significant nonrenewable paleontologic
resources; excavation monitoring and salvage of paleontologic
resources; and preparation, identification, curation, retrievable
storage, and summary reports and inventories in compliance with
federal, state, and local laws, policies, and guidelines for the
preservation of nonrenewable paleontologic resources. The division
holds and annually renews an Antiquities Act Permit from the Department
of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to perform such services
on public lands.
The Regional Paleontologic Locality Inventory (RPLI) is
a computer database with positional and contextual data for more
than 3,000 fossils localities from throughout California and the
southwestern United States. The RPLI has been instrumental in
the development of paleontologic sensitivity maps and management
recommendations for the County of San Bernardino, the County of
Riverside, Edwards Air Force Base, the San Bernardino National
Forest, Fort Irwin Military Reservation, the California Desert
Conservation Area of the Bureau of Land Management, the Upper
Santa Ana River Dams project of the Army Corps of Engineers, as
well as for local agencies and private firms. The RPLI database
is presently in the process of being upgraded. For the protection
of the resources, and in accordance with the guidelines of applicable
agencies, access to the RPLI is provided by the Senior Curator
of Geological Sciences, Kathleen
Springer. Locality data can be made available to qualified
researchers.
Mineral collections are from the southwest:
California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and Baja California, with a
strong worldwide component for comparison. Collections are organized
by mineral chemistry (modified Dana system) and by locality suites.
The Dana suites have strengths in carbonates, sulfates, borates,
arsenates, phosphates, vanadates and molybdates. Localities are
well represented in San Bernardino County, southern Nevada and
Arizona. The mineral collection includes 55,000 specimens and
10,000 micromounts.
The Geology Library centers on the geology of
the three western states. The library contains about 500 volumes,
34,600 serial publications, and 150,000 pages of reprints.
 Search Museum Collections
The staff of the Geological Sciences division includes:
| Kathleen
B. Springer, Senior Curator of Geological Sciences
Kathleen Springer has over nineteen years' experience in leading geologic and paleontologic investigations throughout southern California, Arizona and Nevada. Kathleen specializes in the application of stratigraphic and geomorphologic controls and interpretations to paleontologic investigations, and she emphasizes the importance of detailed data recovery and full curation of recovered resources in such studies. Her efforts have led to the recovery and preservation of thousands of significant fossils and their associated data that currently reside in the SBCM. A resident of Claremont, she has been recognized by the Association of Environmental Professionals for environmental education and by the California Mineralogical Society.
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| Eric Scott,
Curator of Paleontology
Eric Scott has worked at the museum since 1991. He studies the evolution and extinction of Plio-Pleistocene large mammals in western North America, with a particular emphasis on horses and bison. His studies include both field and museum work throughout the western United States as well as in Mexico and South America. He has authored numerous paleontology research articles in professional scientific journals and books. Eric is an adjunct instructor in biology at California State University, San Bernardino, and serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Paleontology. Prior to his present position, Eric was Chief Excavator at the Rancho La Brea "tar pits" in Los Angeles. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1990 and lives in Bloomington. |
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Contact: Kathleen
B. Springer, Senior Curator of Geological Sciences, (909)
307-2669 ext. 242 / TDD/TTY: (909) 792-1462.
Permanent Collections Access and Use Policy and Procedures
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