Documenting the Steven C. Minkin Paleozoic Footprint Site

1. Documenting the Steven C. Minkin Paleozoic Footprint Site Ron Buta University of Alabama and Alabama Paleontological Society

2. The Union Chapel Mine* - discontinued surface coal mine in Walker Co., Alabama - prolific Carboniferous vertebrate and invertebrate tracksite - through efforts of Alabama Paleontological Society, also one of best documented sites in North America - how was this documentation accomplished? Arthropod trackway - Kouphichnium isp. Tetrapod trackway - Attenosaurus subulensis *Dedicated as the Steven C. Minkin Paleozoic Footprint Site, March 12, 2005

4. The decision to document the trackways - realization the UCM trackways are rare - significant for early development of terrestrial vertebrate animal life Two critical decisions made by amateurs: 1. Hold a meeting where trackways are brought to central location for photographic documentation (jokingly dubbed a “Track Meet”) 2. Invite local professional ichnologists to inspect the trackways and assess significance

5. Organization of the Track Meets - find a location where specimens can be laid out on large tables - prepare temporary and permanent labels, assigning each specimen a unique UCM number - set up an “assembly line”, where different people inspect, label, and photograph specimens - catalog the labeled specimens, providing preliminary interpretations until more detailed inspections can be made

6. Track Meet 1 was organized by the late Steven C. Minkin - held at ALMNH, Tuscaloosa August 19, 2000 - roster of speakers in addition to trackway documentation Steven C. Minkin 1947-2004 Special T-shirt designed for TM1

7. Selection of specimens for photography TM1 - only those specimens of higher quality or scientific interest were photographed. This was relaxed at later track meets for three reasons: 1. Photographing all specimens was more efficient 2. Keeping weaker or less than perfect specimens in the database reduces bias 3. Recognition of significance of the site Result: TM1 175 photographs TM2 500 photographs TM3 400 photographs

8. A “track meet” in progress

9. Photography TMs 1,2,3 - Nikon 6006 35mm camera TM4 - first all digital photography TM At TMs 2-4, many closeups of different parts of large trackways were taken much backyard photography as well Photographers: Ron Buta, Larry Herr, and Prescott Atkinson

10. Full slab showing tracks turning around obstacle Closeup of section of same trackway showing manus, pes prints

11. The Photographic Trackway Database - prepared by Buta on 80 Gbyte hard drive - all Nikon photographs scanned into jpeg format - images assigned names according to UCM numbers - Fortran programs used to write out small html files for all images of a specific UCM numbered specimen - linked to an internet website to allow worldwide access to the database http://bama.ua.edu/~rbuta/monograph/

12. Union Chapel Monograph - the large trackway database provided a unique opportunity for a well-planned publication - the Union Chapel Monograph was conceived in early 2001 and planned in July 2001 at the “Great Track Layout” (GTL) - The book would have four parts: 1. Site significance and discovery 2. Geology and paleontology 3. Impact on amateur and professional paleontology 4. Photographic atlases of UCM vertebrate and invertebrate tracks and traces, as well as fossil plants

13. Union Chapel Monograph - July 2005

15. Thank You!