Geological Collection Curation
Contents
Statement of Purpose
Geological collections are extremely broad in scope and inlcude paleontological, petrological, mineralogical and many other types of materials. These collections are the foundation of our understanding of billions of years of Earth and planetary processes including chemical, physical, and biological processes, and provide us a window into the future of our planet.
Proper curation and preservation of geological collections ensures the long term application of this unique and irreplaceable resource, and is as varied as the materials themselves. The purpose of this document is to aid in the compilation of existing resources and is a work in progress.
Contributors
Types of Geological Collections
Below is a list of common types of geological collections, however, this list is not exhaustive and many other types of collections may be considered geological in nature.
Paleontology collections
- Vertebrate
- Invertebrate
- Paleobotany
- Microfossil
- Ichnofossil
- Amber
Rock and Ore
- Oversized samples and hand samples
- Processed derivatives including mineral separates
- Thin sections
Mineral and Gem
- Oversized and hand samples
- Gemstones
- Thumbnails and micromounts
Meteorites and other extraterrestrial samples
- Meteorites
- Impactites
- Lunar samples
Cores
- Splits
- Residues
- Derivatives such as fossils mounted on slides
Bulk samples
- Rock material crushed or otherwise, various fossils from micro to macro vertebrates may be present in addition to lithological material
