Royal Alberta Museum - Purpose and Objectives of Report

Purpose and Objectives of Report Text Image

At the present time, the prospect of developing a new program to evaluate and compare geological sites is not encouraging given the economic climate and shifting political priorities. It is hoped that the framework outlined here will initiate the process of a large-scale geological site evaluation and inventory. Numerous sites are evaluated and their scores are summarized in the table at the end of this report. They are examples to show how the system is intended to work.

A standardized methodology is proposed here that will permit assessment and ranking of geological sites against each other for degree of threat, interpretive value, and a potential historic site designation. The evaluation scheme provides a method of choosing between a number of similar features or sites. The final scores of the evaluations should not be considered as absolute values, but rather as tools or guides for ranking and comparing sites.

One logical way to evaluate sites is through a set of criteria with assigned values. The use of criteria implies the existence of an evaluation system that is objective and reproducible. It is acknowledged here that many scientific evaluations can be inherently subjective, as evaluators have differing beliefs, experiences, and understanding. The criteria and their weighting used in these evaluations were arrived at by extensive research of the literature, discussions with a broad spectrum of people from the geological community, and testing on numerous known geological sites. The evaluation scheme is based on clearly defined, defensible criteria, and therefore provides a logical method for comparison of geological sites. The evaluations, in conjunction with feedback from earth scientists, are extremely useful assessment tools.

Paleontological occurrences form a distinct category of geological features and often need to be evaluated separately. There is no simple "check list" to evaluate fossils and fossil sites. Evaluation of their significance requires assessment by paleontologists with experience and knowledge of the particular type of fossil under consideration.