Charles W. Harper, Jr.

Professor

  Ph.D., 1964, California Institute of Technology
  S.M., 1961, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  S.B., 1959, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Paleontology

My research interests include paleontologic principles and methods, quantitative methods in paleontology, and paleoecology. I also publish on the taxonomy of Paleozoic brachiopods. Current research projects involve quantitative biostratigraphy, facies models based on facies transition counts, and new approaches to community paleoecology.

Quantitative Biostratigraphy

For several years, I have been investigating ways of analyzing patterns in the succession of fossil taxa in strata to infer their succession in time and/or space.

Paleontologists commonly attempt to infer a regular pattern of distribution of fossil taxa in time and/or space based on the succession of first and last occurrences of the fossils in local stratigraphic sections. A number of quantitative approaches have been proposed for analyzing such succession data.

I have developed ways of comparing such approaches using computer-generated data. As a continuing project, I plan to evaluate and compare several such ranking algorithms and perhaps to develop new ones. I am also attempting to evaluate and develop tests of significance applicable to succession data.

Facies Models

I am also interested in ways of working out patterns in the vertical succession of lithofacies and/or biofacies. Sedimentologists and paleontologists commonly analyze successions of lithofacies and/or biofacies in local successions using contingency tables showing facies transition counts.

A variety of procedures is available for analyzing contingency tables and recognizing outliers, i.e., entries that deviate significantly from a random model. I plan to adapt new quantitative techniques to tables of facies transition counts.

Community Paleoecology

As a third area of quantitative study, I am interested in developing tests of significance for groupings of sample sites based on species presence-absence or relative abundance. I am especially interested in the analysis of groupings emerging from cluster analysis.

Some of my other research projects include:

• Investigation of the evolution and distribution in time and space of Silurian and Lower Devonian Spiriferid brachiopods.
• Analysis of fining/coarsening upward sequences of strata.

Selected Publications

Harper, Charles W., 2000, A FORTRAN 90 Program for Statistical Testing  of Alleged Thickening and/or Thinning Upward Patterns in Sequences of Strata,Computers and Geosciences, vol. 26, no. 3 (March) , pp. 249-266, 7 tables, 4
text-figs. (code and additional tables available at Int. Assoc. Math. Geol.
Site: http://www.iamg.org/CGEditor/index.htm).

Harper, Charles W., Jr., 1999, "Population Size and Taxonomic Diversity in
Geologic Time: a brief look at two density-dependent models ",
Senckenbergiana lethaea,  vol. 79 (1) , pp. 43-49 & 5 text-figs., Frankfurt
am Main.

Harper Charles W., Jr., 1998, Thickening and/or Thinning Upward Patterns in
Sequences of Strata: Tests of Significance, Sedimentology, 45, 657-696.

Harper, C.W., 1996, Patterns of Diversity, Extinction and Origination in the Ordovican-Devonian Stropheodontacea, Historical Biology, 11, 267-288.

Harper, C.W., 1987. Might Occams Canon Explode the Death Star? A moving average model of biotic extinctions, Palaios, 2, 600-604.

Harper, C.W., 1984. Facies models revisited: An examination of quantitative methods. Geoscience Canada, 11, 203-207.

Harper, C.W., 1984. A Fortran IV program for comparing ranking algorithms in quantitative biostratigraphy. Computers and Geosciences, 10, 3-29.

Harper, C.W., 1984. Improved methods of facies sequence analysis. In: Facies Models, Second Edition (Walker, R.G., ed.) Geoscience Canada Reprint Series No. 1, 11-13.

Harper, C.W., Tipper, J.C., and Walmsley, V. G., 1982. Ecophenotypic strategies of dalmandellid brachiopods, Lethaia, 15, 31-40