QUATERNARY PALEONTOLOGICAL SITES DIGITALIZATION OF THE ISLAND OF TENERIFE (CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN)

PENÉLOPE CRUZADO CABALLERO; CAROLINA CASTILLO RUIZ; CRISTINA JIMENEZ-GOMIS

Congreso; 1st Palaeontological Virtual Congress; 2018

The fossil record of the Canary Islands has great importance and outstanding nature due to its preservation in an active volcanic islands context. In the island of Tenerife there are marine and terrestrial environment sites which are fragile and make difficult their preservation. In this work we present the use of photogrammetry as a mean of digital preservation of the Canarian paleontological heritage. We have digitized different types of deposits to test the usefulness of conventional photogrammetry. In this way have been digitized 6 sites (marine and terrestrial), which 4 are seen in bedding plane and 2 are seen in cross section. As a result, in the cases where the site is a large horizontal platform (Igueste de San Andrés, Tachero) the ends are distorted when taking photographs at ground level. This problem is easily solvable with the use of a drone. Another problem that we have found is that some sites (La Punta del Hidalgo) are in the tide line, which means that the site is only accessible a few hours a day to be photographed. Besides, the presence of puddles of water produce errors during model generation. Lastly, the terrestrial sites (which arethe ones to appear in cross section) have given the best results by far. This technique has proved itself useful and efficient. Furthermore, our proposal of creating a digital catalogue not only serves as a way of monitoring and preserving the natural heritage, but as a disseminating and educational tool of the Canarian paleontological heritage.