Park Paleontology Vo l u m e 7 N u m b e r 1

Summer 2 0 0 3

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Fossil Beds Paleontologist Table of Contents

Earns Scientist of the

Year Award

Article courtesy of David Carkhuff,

Blue Mountain Eagle

DAYVILLE, Ore. — The Pacific West

Region of the National Park Service has

awarded local John Day paleontologist,

Ted Fremd, the “Research Scientist of

the Year.”

This award was created to reward

excellence in developing scientific

programs or published research which

further the cause of science or natural

resource management in the service. In

addition to his duties as a

paleontologist, Fremd is one of a

handful of Science Advisors in the NPS,

providing input to research programs in

66 very diverse national parks such as

Olympic, Yosemite, and Petrified

Forest.

John Day Fossil Beds National

Monument Superintendent Jim

Hammett prepared the nomination, in

which he stated, “Ted, virtually by

himself, built one of the most

respected and complete field-based

paleontological research programs in

the United States. He has published

extensively and focused his and our

partner’s research on the most

compelling questions of John Day’s

ancient past.

“His conclusions regarding the best

and most efficient methods for

furthering paleontological

understanding and research formed

the basis for the function, size, scale,

and focus of the new $8.4 million

Thomas Condon Paleontological Center Ted Fremd in the field at John Day Fossil

Beds National Monument

currently under construction at John

Day. It is scheduled to open to the

public and researchers in 2004. Our

goal is to make Ted’s research program

as transparent as possible to visitors

and convey to them the importance

and relevance of such research.

“One of the most important aspects of

the paleo resources of the John Day

Basin is its long uninterrupted fossil

sequence and the unique attribute of

being mostly comprised of very datable

volcaniclastics. Few fossil localities

preserve much more than a million

years in time, yet the John Day

localities preserve an uninterrupted

sequence of about 50 million years.

This makes the John Day Basin a

valuable temporal benchmark for

fossils found all over the globe —

particularly those that are in matrix

that cannot be easily dated.”

Frequent readers of the Blue Mountain

Eagle may recall Fremd’s articles the

last few years about the John Day

region, “The Fossil Record.” He has

offered to continue the series later this

spring, focusing on new scientific

information about the “strange and

wonderful” creatures and plants of the

past, and the rocks they are entombed

in, that will be featured in the

Paleontology Center.

Fremd said, “It’s easy to get

enthusiastic about a place as globally

important to scientists as the John Day,

and even easier when you work with a

staff like we have here. The first

superintendent of the park, Ben Ladd,

strongly encouraged active science,

and Jim Hammett has continued that

emphasis. Few people realize that we

have such a great team, including one

of the best fossil preparators in the

country, a superb collection manager,

great volunteers, and I’ve just hired a

new paleobotanist to round out our

expertise. I think anybody would excel

working with people like this in

geological surroundings as stunning as

can be found in this part of Oregon.”

To learn more about the paleontology

and research at John Day Fossil Beds

National Monument you can visit their

website at:

http://www.nps.gov/joda/paleo.htm

Fossil Beds Paleontologist Earns Scientist of

the Year Award ............................... 1

The Tree Molds at Pu‘uhonua o Honaunau:

A record of loulu palms on the Kona coast

..................................................... 2

New Paleobotantist at John Day Fossils Beds

National Monument ........................ 5

New Book on the Fossils of Florissant Fossil

Beds ............................................... 6

Recent Literature on Park Paleontology

Resources ...................................... 7

Park Paleontology 1

Geologic Resources Division, Paleontology Program
The Tree Molds at

Pu‘uhonua o Honaunau:

A record of loulu palms

on the Kona coast

Deborah Woodcock

Nicholas Kalodimos

Department of Geography

University of Hawaii

Honolulu Hawaii 96822

Tree molds form when sediments or

lava bury or surround a tree and

preserve its form. They are found in a

variety of geologic settings. In Hawai‘i,

conditions are optimal for the

formation of tree molds when flowing

lava – usually of the more fluidic

pahoehoe type - moves though a

forested area (Walker 1995). As hot

lava engulfs a living tree, steam

escaping from the tree keeps it from

burning long enough to be impressed

into the lava. The surrounding lava,

which has been described as “a sheath

of quenched basalt” (Lockwood and

Williams, 1978), often preserves the

surface details of the tree even after

the organic matter has burned or

rotted away.

Tree molds are valuable scientifically

for a variety of reasons. The shape and

orientation of the molds can be used to

establish locations of vents and

direction and force of the flow

(Lockwood and Williams, 1978;

Froggatt et al., 1981; Giannetti, 1996).

The charred wood that can sometimes

be recovered from the molds provides

information about flow temperatures

(Lockwood and Lipman, 1980),

vegetation present at the time of the

eruption, and also the age of the flow

if the material can be radiocarbon

dated.

Identification of taxa based on the

surface characteristics of the molds is

sometimes possible. The lower vascular

plants of the Paleozoic coal forests, for

instance, had scale-like leaf

attachments that formed characteristic

patterns on the surface. More recent

molds are generally more difficult to

identify, unless wood or charcoal can

be recovered. The molds at Pu‘uhonua

are an exception, their identification is

made possible through a fortunate

combination of circumstances.

Description of the Molds

Tree molds are numerous in the

volcanic terrain of the Big Island of

Hawai‘i, where the processes that

formed the islands still send lava down

the flanks of the volcanoes toward the

sea. Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National

Historical Park lies along the Kona

coast on the southwestern slope of

Kilauea volcano. The molds we studied

are along the coastline near an ancient

Hawaiian fishing shrine, on the surface

of a flow approximately 1,100 years

old (radiocarbon date of 1,111 ± 51

years BP) and is attributable to

combustion of organic material

(Lockwood and Lipman 1980).

A common feature of the molds is lava

infilling, a phenomenon in which

molten material has been forced up

through the solidifying surface of the

flow through a fracture or weak spot,

in this case the impression of the mold

on the surface. These features are

called “squeeze ups” and also

“toothpaste lava” since they look like

a line of toothpaste (Fig. 1). The many

molds extending horizonally across the

flow represent trees that fell into the

lava and were carried along with the

flow. The majority of the horizontal

molds are unbranched, but some show

distinctive branching. In some cases,

the lava moved around still standing

trees, producing vertical molds.

Our field study included measuring

dimensions of the molds and making

descriptions of the surface features

and patternings. Diameter (or

estimated diameter) of the horizontal

unbranched molds averages 11-21 cm

and does not vary much along the

length. Median length of these molds is

~3 m. The longest mold has a length of

10.5 m and is considerably wider at

one end, which probably represents

the base of the tree. The vertical molds

also include larger-diameter specimens

(25 and 37 cm).

The unbranched molds are straightsided but have a characteristic surface

texture. Walker (1995) described the

surface of some Hawaiian tree molds

as a “boxworks” of basalt septa and

attributed the pattern to basalt infilling

in cracks of charred wood. The

Research crew with fragmented tree

mold at Pu‘uhonua o Honaunau.

Fig. 1. Unbranched tree mold with squeeze-up in center

2 Park Paleontology
description is apt – the Pu‘uhonua

molds show a regular pattern of

rectangular basalt septa much like a

boxworks – but we doubt that all the

specimens found in the park were

necessarily charred at the time the

molds formed. The surface in most

cases has pronounced longitudinal

septa that are 2-7 mm wide and

relatively continuous along the length

of the mold. Oriented perpendicularly

are radial septa that are both less

pronounced and less continuous.

Together the septa form a rectangular

pattern (Fig. 2). Width and spacing of

the septa vary from specimen to

specimen and also often along the

length of the mold. The variations

observed may be influenced by

pressure with which the molten lava

forced itself into fissures in the tree or

the degree to which trees cracked

when coming in contact with hot lava.

A few of the unbranched molds (and all

of the branched molds) do have a

pattern suggesting charring, with wide

septa that form large, fairly uniform

rectangles.

Fig. 2. Tree mold showing longitudinal and radial septa.

widespread in leeward areas of the

island in former times (Hodel, 1980).

Pollen and macrofossil records from

lowland areas of O‘ahu and Kauai

show a clear correspondence between

human occupation and subsequent

decline of Pritchardia (Fig. 5); (Athens,

1997; Burney et al., 2001). The

Pu’uhonua molds are an additional

source of information about the rise

and fall of coastal palm communities.

Our study also suggests that tree molds

may be an underutilized source of

information about paleoecology and

the chronology of landscape change in

Hawai‘i.

Management Considerations

The tree molds at Pu‘uhonua o

Honaunau are an easily viewed aspect

of the site’s natural history that are

interesting both collectively and

Did You Know?

Tree molds in lava flows are also preserved at

Craters of the Moon in Idaho, El Malpais in

New Mexico and Lava Beds National

Monument in California. Some of the parks

have hiking trails to the tree molds. Besides

tree molds that formed around longs on the

ground some of the molds were formed

when the lava flowed around upright trees.

These upright tree molds range from a few

inches to just under 3 feet in diameter.

Fig. 3. Drawing showing the pattern of

leaf bases and petioles.

Identifications

There are a variety of indications that

the unbranched molds are loulu

(Pritchardia) palms, a genus including

many species endemic to the Hawaiian

Islands. The palmlike habit is best

illustrated by a mold that preserves the

impressions of leaf bases and petioles

(Fig. 3). Impressions appearing to be

the broad portion of the palm leaf base

part on morphological characters

including a generally columnar form,

can also be seen at several locations.

Identification as Pritchardia is based in

based in part on morphological

characters including a generally

columnar form, although often with a

flared base in older individuals, and

sides that are straight and without

pronounced leaf scars, persistent leaf

bases, or other notable features (Fig.

4). There is also a generalized

correspondence between the septa

visible on the molds and the surface

patternings of living Pritchardia palms,

which have prominent longitudinal

furrows that are relatively continuous

along the length of the tree and

shorter less well-developed radial

furrows. The coconut palm (Cocos), by

way of comparison, has a surface that

is rougher, with less continuous

longitudinal furrows and more evident

leaf scars; is normally larger in

diameter; and typically grows in a

curved or slanting fashion rather than

being straight-columnar.

The genus Pritchardia includes several

species with diameters approximating

that of the molds. The most likely

candidate is Prichardia affinis Becc., a

coastal species known to have been

Fig. 4. Loulu palm near the park office.

Diameter is ~12 cm at breast height.

Park Paleontology 3
individually. Particularly notable are the

specimen with leaf bases evident at

the apex; specimens showing

“squeeze-ups” where lava has

breached the mold from below; the

longest mold with its flared base; the

vertical molds which display a septum

on one side showing how the lava

flowed around the tree on its path

toward the ocean; and the branched

molds with their completely different

morphology. Fortunately, the tree

molds are not an especially fragile

resource and unlikely to be damaged

by normal foot traffic. Thus there is no

reason that visitors could not be

encouraged to view the tree molds at

close hand since they have much to say

about the dynamics of lava flows, the

process of tree mold formation, and

vegetation and landscape change in

Hawai‘i.

Pu‘uhonua is one of the most

historically significant and beautiful

sites in the islands. Standing on the

lava flows along the coastline, with the

broad slopes of Kilauea rising to one

side and the great stone walls of the

refuge and the other archeological

features as backdrop, is an experience

not to be forgotten. It also rather

remarkable to find at one’s feet the

impressions of native palms that once

thrived in this coastal area now

dominated by introduced plants.

Fig. 5. Correspondence between human occupation and Pritchardia

occurrence.

Acknowledgments

We appreciate the assistance of

Satomi Maekawa, Ali Hosseini, and the

staff at the Park.

References

Athens, J. S. 1997. Hawaiian native

lowland vegetation in prehistory. In, P.

V. Kirch and T. L. Hunt, eds., Historical

Ecology in the Pacific Islands. Yale

University, New Haven CT.

Beccari, O., and J. F. Rock. 1921. A

monographic study of the genus

Pritchardia. Memoirs of the Bernice P.

Bishop Museum 8: 1-77.

Burney, D A.; James, H.F.; Burney, L. P.;

Olson, S. L.; Kikucki, W.; Wagner, W. L.;

Burney, M.; McCloskey, D.; Kikuchi, D.;

Grandy, F. V.; Gage, R., and Nishek, R.

2001. Fossil evidence for a diverse

biota from Kaua‘i and its

transformation since human arrival.

Ecological Monographs 71: 615-641.

Froggatt, P. C. , C. J. N. Wilson, and G.

P. L. Walker. 1981. Orientation of logs

in the Taupo Ignimbrite as an indicator

of flow direction and vent position.

Geology 9: 109-111.

Giannetti, B. 1996. Volcanological

features of the yellow trachytic tuff

from Roccamonfina Volcano, Roman

Region, Italy. Bullettino del Servizio

Geologico d’Italia. 113: 29-66.

Leeward KauíI

(Burney et al., 1997)

Leeward Oíahu

(Athens, 1997)

Hawaiíi

2000 BP

1000 AD

1000 BP

2000 AD

0

*

Puíuhonua

Tree Molds

Pritchardia

Human

Occupation

Pritchardia

Human

Occupation

Hodel, D. 1980. Notes on Pritchardia in

Hawaii. Principes 24: 65-81.

Lockwood, J. P. 1995. Mauna Loa

eruptive history - the preliminary

radiocarbon record. In, J.M. Rhodes

and J. P. Lockwood, Mauna Loa

revealed - structure, composition,

history, and hazards; American

Geophysical Union Geophysical Memoir

92: 1-348.

Lockwood, J. P., and P. W. Lipman.

1980. Recovery of datable charcoal

beneath young lavas: Lessons from

Hawaii. Bulletin of Vulcanology 43:

609-615.

Lockwood, J. P., and I. S. Williams.

1978. Lava trees and tree molds as

lava flow directional indicators.

Geological Magazine 115: 69-74.

Walker, G. P. L. 1995. Plant molds in

Hawaiian basalts: Was Oahu a desert,

and why? Journal of Geology 103: 85-

93.

What is Basalt?

4 Park Paleontology

Basalt is a fine-grained dark-colored

igneous rock. More popularly known as

ìlavaî, to a geologist, basalt is defined by

its minerals and a low silica content. Basalt

melts at a temperature of about 1200

degrees centigrade. When it erupts as lava

it is very fluid and can spread out thin into

flows to cover large areas. When a basalt

flow on the surface is slow-moving, rough

and with a clinkery surface it is called aa

(pronounced ah-ah) while the more fluid

and faster moving basalt that has a smooth

and ropey surface is called pahoehoe

(pronounced pay-hoy-hoy). Tree molds are

usually found in pahoehoe lava.

Many parks have basalt lava flows

including Hawaii Volcanoes, El Malpais,

Craters of the Moon, Lava Beds, Devils

Postpile and Lake Roosevelt.
New Paleobotantist at

John Day Fossils Beds

National Monument

Ted Fremd

John Day Fossil Beds N.M.

HCR 82, Box 126

Kimberly, Oregon 97848-0126

Regan Dunn has recently been hired as

the first staff paleobotanist at John Day

Fossil Beds National Monument.

She is a native Coloradoan who

practically grew up on fossil leaf sites in

the Denver Basin, but it took her 25

years to find them. She graduated from

Colorado State University in 1995 with a

B.S. in Biological Sciences with a

concentration in cellular and molecular

biology, and a minor in Anthropology.

After working in various molecular

biology labs, she became tired of a life

indoors at the lab bench, and she set out

for a life of seasonal employment as a

river guide and ski instructor. By 1998,

seasonal employment had become

uninteresting for Regan, and she enlisted

to work on a drill rig contracted by a

team of stratigraphers, paleontologists,

and hydrogeologists from the Denver

Museum of Nature and Science. After

describing hundreds of feet of core and

working at several fossil leaf sites in the

Denver Basin, Regan’s career choice was

made.

She is now in the process of completing

graduate school at the University of

Wyoming where she has been studying

Paleocene floras (both leaf fossils and

palynomorphs) from the Hanna Basin,

Wyoming. Concurrent to working on

her degree in Wyoming, she continues

working on most unusual fossil floras

from the early Paleocene in the Denver

Basin, including coauthoring a major

new paper on the Castle Rock Rainforest.

Her research interests include correlating

fossil plant assemblages, leaf fossils and

palynomorphs, with other age-models

including mammalian and pollen

biostratigraphy, and radioisotopically

dated rocks.

“The paleobotanist position at John Day

Fossil Beds is an ideal fit for me, and I

greatly look forward to many fruitful

years of research and resource protection

with the John Day paleontology team,”

she said.

Ted Fremd, the park’s senior

paleontologist, commented that she was

very highly recommended by some of the

world’s leading paleobotanists, making

his selection of candidates from around

North America easier. “A lot of people

think that most paleobotanists are either

nuts or very seedy characters,” he said.

He adds that for folks interested in the

fossil plants, which have not received as

much research attention as the animals,

“Yew won’t have to pine as she will

spruce up the plant collections fir a

change.”

Additional Reading

Wheeler, E.A. and S.R. Manchester. 2002.

Woods of the Eocene Nut Beds Flora, Clarno

Formation, Oregon, USA. International

Association of Wood Anatomists Journal,

Supplement 3: 188 pp.

Fossil Plants at

John Day

Fossil Beds

Established in 1974, John Day Fossil Beds

Oregon is composed of three managment

units - Clarno, Painted Hills and Sheep Rock.

The geology of the monument includes four

major rock formations that preserve a diverse

flora and fauna that range in time from the

Eocene to the early Pliocene (50 to 6 million

years ago).

The oldest formation, the Clarno, is Eocene

in age and preserves fossil seeds, nuts, fruits,

leaves, branches and roots of plants that

lived in a tropical to subtropical forest. These

are known as the Clarno Nut Beds and

hundreds of species of plants have been

found.

The late Oligocene and early Miocene John

Day Formation preserves evidence of early

deciduous forests.

The Mascall Formation is late Miocene in

age and preserves evidence of some of the

early grasses. Mixed hardwood forests

similar to those found in the eastern United

States today are also present.

Fossil plants from the early Pliocene

Rattlesnake Formation indicate a cooler and

dryer climate dominated by grasslands.

Regan Dunn, new paleobotanist at John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.

Park Paleontology 5

Alnus (alder) fruit from John Day Fossil

Beds National Monument
6 Park Paleontology

New Book on the

Fossils of Florissant

Fossil Beds

The Smithsonian Institution Press has

just published a new book on the “The

Fossils of Florissant” written by Herb

Meyer, paleobotantist at Florissant

Fossil Beds National Monument. The

book is the culmination of over seven

years of research that Meyer started

with a survey of museum collections

with Florissant fossils in 1995. The

book proposal was submitted

Smithsonian Press’ chief editor in 2000.

The result “The Fossils of Florissant” is

the definitive work regarding all the

fossils that have been excavated from

the Florissant Formation over the last

130 years and covers the entire flora

and fauna of Florissant, plants, insects,

and vertebrates. Today these fossils

are found in collections and museums

throughout the world. The “Fossils of

Florissant” is available at the visitor

center bookstore at Florissant Fossils

Beds National Monument or can be

ordered directly from Smithsonian

Institution press. See Recent Literature

on Park Paleontology on page 7.

The first record of fossils in the area

was in 1871 when the Daily Central

City Register that reported that

Florissant had “a petrified forest near

which are found, between sedimentary

layers, most beautiful imprints of leaves

differing entirely from any that grow in

the valley now-a-days.” The first

scientific paper describing the fossils

from Florissant was written in 1876 by

Samuel H. Scudder and continued

research in the area has resulted in

3756 different kinds of plants and

animals being recorded from the

Florissant Lake Beds.

The project involved 42 trips and he

spent 9 months on the road visiting

collections and looked at 5500

specimens of which more than 90% of

which are previously published as types

or otherwise referenced specimens.

The database he compiled includes

about 300 other specimens that are in

publications but did NOT show up in

the collections. He took more than

6,000 Kodachrome images, all in

duplicate for a total of more than

12,000 slides. The book includes type

and published material from Florissant

Herb Meyer, paleobotanist at Florissant

Fossil Beds National Monument, turning

over a new (old) leaf.

housed in 14 museums, many of which

are illustrated for the first time.

To illustrate the importance of the

Florissant area for its fossil record some

of the numbers include:

Total number of specimens originally

described as a Holotype: 1549

Number of total specimens from

Florissant in current literature as

Holotype: 1401

Number of plants originally described

as Holotype: 219

Number of plants in current literature

as Holotype: 105

Number of insects originally described

as Holotype: 1272

Number of insects in current literature

as Holotype: 1239

Different funding sources covered

different parts of the project. CRPP

paid for most of the on-site museum

visits to inventory collections. NRPP

paid for much of the database and

website development, and for the

project to “update taxonomy.” CDP

(Colorado Digitization Project) paid for

scanning many of the digital images

(including of publications) for the

database. GRD paid for some of the

extra help at Harvard (an additional 3

months was spent by one of the lab

instructors at Harvard who assisted

with the huge MCZ collection). A grant

from Canon paid for some of the interns

to enter data into the database. FLFO

base budget paid for his salary during

the project.

Meyer gratefully acknowledges the

help of the many contributors to the

book and the related database and

website project including his interns,

Matt Wasson, intern/seasonal tech,

helped with refining database for web

conversion, April Kinchloe and Amanda

Cook intern/seasonal techs who helped

with database entries, Dr. Boyce

Drummond, entomologist/consultant,

who evaluated higher taxonomic

ranking for the insects, John Fraser,

helped with collection inventory at

Harvard and Linda Lutz-Ryan,

environmental education at FLFO, who

contributed original artwork used in

four figures in the book.

Besides the book, the information

about the fossils from Florissant housed

in different museums visited by Meyer

during his visits has been compiled into

a database that is accesssible via the

internet at:

http://planning.nps.gov/flfo

Anyone interested in learning more

about the plants, insects or any other

fossils found at Florissant can go to this

one line database and search it for

more information about the

paleontology and geology of the

monument.

What is a holotype?

A type specimen, also known as the

holotype, is the specimen upon which a

new species of plant or animal is

based. It serves as the primary

reference specimen that allows

paleontologists, zoologists and

botanists to confirm that other newly

discovered species are the same or

different from species already

described.
Recent Literature on Park Paleontology Resources

Park Paleontology 7

THE FOSSILS OF FLORISSANT

Herbert W. Meyer

In the rocks of Florissant, Colorado, lying in the shadow of Pikes

Peak, is the evidence of a long-lost world. Encased by the ash of

volcanoes that erupted tens of millions of years ago, animals

such as insects, fish, and mammals were fossilized in the same

deposits as flowers, trees, and the delicate leaves of plants. This

amazing collection of animals and plants from the same place at

the same time provides a rare, uniquely comprehensive glimpse

of life in the past. Through more than 200 color photographs

and vivid descriptions of the fossils, Meyer brings the fossils of

Florissant to life, not only providing background on the plants

and animals, but also exploring the warm environment in which

they lived. The site was once a treasure trove for paleontologists

who acquired the fossils for museums around the world; it is

now protected as Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.

Meyer’s book reveals the beauty of both the site and its delicate

fossils, and offers a compelling story of life long ago.

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Leaf of an early maple, Acer florissantii,

from Florissant Fossil Beds. Photo

courtesy of the University of California

Museum of Paleontology.

Damelsfly, Miopodagrion optimum,

from Florissant Fossil Beds. Courtesy of

the University of Colorado Museum.
Park Paleontology is published intermittently

each year by the Geologic Resources Division.

It is available as a PDF file on the Internet at

http:www2.nature.nps.gov/grd/geology/

paleo/news/newsletter.htm

Copies may be printed from the internet for

free distribution.

Editor

Greg McDonald

Contributors

 David Carkhuff

 Ted Fremd

 Nicholas Kalodimos

 Deborah Woodcock

Comments? Write to:

Greg McDonald

Geologic Resources Division

National Park Service

P.O. Box 25287

Denver, Colorado 80225

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Natural Resource Program Center

Geologic Resources Division

Paleontology Program

P.O. Box 25287

Denver, Colorado 80225

303 969-2821

First Class Mail

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EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA

8 Park Paleontology

Example of the types of fossil plant material preserved in the

Clarno Nut Beds at John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.