GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY DIVISION

The Geology and Paleontology Division leads the National Museum of the Philippines’s basic and systematic study on earth sciences. It is primarily responsible in (1) conducting basic studies in Petrology, Mineralogy and Paleontology, (2) establishing and maintaining an adequate reference collection, and (3) disseminating scientific information through exhibitions and relevant publications. 

HISTORY 

Upon the National Museum’s establishment in 1901, the Geology and Paleontology Division is one of the first divisions of the National Museum, along with other natural sciences like botany, entomology, ichthyology, herpetology and mammalogy. However, it was only in 1947, during the National Museum’s re-creation, when it was officially considered as a division by virtue of Executive Order No. 094. It was named Geology-Paleontology Division with Mr. Inocentes Paniza as its first chief geologist. It had three sections namely: Structural Geology, Dynamic Geology, and Paleontology. 

The division’s initial goal was to rehabilitate its collection after the devastating war. The collection was augmented through extensive field expeditions and through donations, exchanges and purchases from other organizations and museums. The Bureau of Mines provided most of the donated specimens at that time. Apart from collection build-up, the division continued its research studies with focus on mapping Pleistocene sediment deposits. This is in support of the museum’s project in discovering the earliest human fossils in the Philippines. 

When fossils of elephants and rhinoceros were discovered in the 1950s, research activities of the division focused on mammalian fossil localities such as the Cabarruyan Island in Pangasinan and in Kalinga-Apayao. Eventually, more research areas were added such as the Tabon Cave in Palawan, and the provinces of Iloilo and Cagayan. These field expeditions yielded more than 150 mammalian fossils associated with man-made flake tools bringing credence to the theory of Philippine prehistory dating as far back as 500,000 years ago. 

During the 1970s, when the country was under martial law, the division name was changed to Geology Division. Ushering this change is the introduction of its new sections: the Geological Survey Section, Petrology and Mineralogy Section, and the Paleontology Section. Since then, these sections have set the objectives of the divisions research and exhibitions for the following years. The division conducted various studies such as palynology of sediments from Quezon, Palawan; zooplankton research in Aklan, and geologic survey of several provinces for the reference collection. In 1991, when Mt. Pinatubo erupted, the Geology Division spearheaded an exhibition at the Old Congress Building where photographs of Mt. Pinatubo before, during, and after the eruption were displayed. Following the public’s interest in volcanoes, a luggage-type exhibition featuring the different rock and minerals of the country was set-up in Cagsawa Branch Museum in Bicol. 


Geology of the Philippines

This gallery is home to the numerous igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks that make up the islands of the Philippines. You can find hardened lavas, like this andesite boulder from the 1814 eruption of Mt. Mayon, to rocks created deep within our Earth’s mantle. Some of them are more than 250 million years old, even older than the dinosaurs! At the center of the gallery is a large relief map of the Philippines, allowing you to see the geography of the country in three dimensions. Featured are the layers of rocks underlying the Cagayan Valley Basin, Visayan Sea Basin and the Cotabato Basin – sliced and pulled-up for everyone to see where the rocks layers fold and break. Adjacent to this is a section devoted to destructive natural events like volcanic eruptions, lahars, and earthquakes that negatively affect Filipinos and the environment. Museum viewers will also learn the difference between a tsunami and a storm surge, or journey back to the 1991 Pinatubo eruption – the 2nd largest eruption in the 20th century through this window to the past (quadroscope). This gallery also features an activity corner where kids can put themselves in a geologist’s shoes by getting hands-on tips in identifying common rocks. Pointers in proper cleaning, maintenance, and storing of rocks and the needed tools are also present to them to start their very own rock collection.  Last but not the least, the gallery also has a mini-theater where you can appreciate some of the many beautiful rock formations scattered throughout the country. Learn how the Chocolate Hills or the Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River came to be, and maybe give your long-awaited vacation a new perspective.


Minerals and Energy Resources

  • Gallery III-diorama of the indigenous mining

  • Gallery III-glowing minerals

  • Gallery III-indigenous mining

  • Gallery III-minerals cabinet with photomicrographs of minerals(1)

  • Gallery III-minerals cabinet with photomicrographs of minerals

  • Gallery III-renewable energy resources(1)

  • Gallery III-underground mining diorama

This gallery, divided into two sections, features the different types of natural resources that we utilize in the Philippines. It builds awareness on the origin of these resources, how they are obtained and how they contribute to our everyday well-being. 

One side of the gallery features the mineral resources mined locally to manufacture products we have come to need for practical, everyday use. They are extracted from the earth through different methods like placer mining, surface mining, and underground mining, depending on the type, location and value of the surveyed minerals.  Samples exhibited here are metallic minerals like gold, chromite, nickel, iron, copper and manganese.  We also have here the nonmetallics like quartz, sulfur, calcite, anhydrite, and many others. 

On the other side of the gallery are the energy resources that we use in the country. On display here are samples of natural coals showing its first stage (peat) to its last stage (anthracite) of development. We also have crude oil samples and drilling implements donated by the geologist who discovered the first oil wells in the Philippines. These samples were the earliest crude oils that flowed out of the West Philippine Sea, collected for posterity.  We also have here eco-friendly ways of generating energy such as converting air into electricity through windmills, sunlight through solar panels, water into hydro-power and converting heat from the sub-surface of the earth into geothermal energy. 


LifeThrough Time

  • Gallery IV – Pleistocene mammal fossils

  • Gallery IV-ammonite distribution globe

  • Gallery IV-Marine Fossils

  • Gallery IV-megalodon jaw replica

  • Gallery IV-tusk with large mammals fossils

  • Gallery IV-various fossils with the interactive section at the back

The fourth and final gallery here at the 5th floor is the “Life through Time” exhibition. This gallery takes us back in time through the different fossils discovered from around the country. Fossils are naturally preserved remains and traces of an organism. Some of the organisms here are already extinct and are known only through their fossils. There are also some fossils here of organisms which are still present here and other parts of the world. As you enter the gallery you will be greeted with a replica of a megalodon’s jaw, the largest shark to ever exist on earth. Real megalodon teeth found in several parts of the Philippines are exhibited next to this. Further along you will see fossils of the ammonite –  an extinct mollusk which lived at the same time as most dinosaurs. There are also fossils of corals, the black marlin, and various seashells, including the Tridacna, or more commonly called as giant clam. You will notice that most of these fossils are usually found in the oceans. This is because, when these organisms are still alive, most of the Philippine islands are still under water. Towards the end of the gallery, at a time when more of the islands are emerging and sea level is lower, terrestrial organisms are now present. They are represented here by the fossilized leaves, petrified wood, and fossils of large prehistoric mammals like the stegodon, elephant, and rhinoceros.


Dinosaur replica

Gotuaco Collection