Earth Sciences
The Division of Earth Sciences encompasses paleontology,
mineralogy and geology.
The Division cares for 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. Collections of particular interest include:
- late Pleistocene fossils from 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
prehistoric animals and plants in southern California thousands
and millions of years ago.
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. For the protection of the resources, and in
accordance with the guidelines of applicable agencies, access to the RPLI is available
only 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.
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