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In some natural sciences, 'type locality' (Latin ''locus typicus'') is the typical or representative location and is typically the first example of a newly discovered or described object. Often it is namesake for the term.
It is most commonly used in geology for formations, structures, rock types, minerals and fossils. A synonymous term is 'type locale'. It is also used in biology. The term is similar to the term type site in archaeology or the term type specimen in biology.
The development of a scientific tradition in geology was always based on the location. Geologists visited locations where rocks were visible and tried to explain what they saw. As a result they published the new theory by adding drawings and later photographs of the location. It is rather obvious to name the new geologic idea after the place.
As a matter of fact, the first explanation may not be the correct one. So often the geologic term really exists, but the place which it is homonymous does not show this structure. A very good example is the term caldera. This is the collapsed ctarer of a volcano, which is formed after the volcano has erupted its lava and the now empty magma chamber collapses. It was named after a huge bowl shaped valley on the island La Palma. Some years ago research at the type locality showed, that it is not a caldera, it is a valley which was formed by erosion. Caldera is the Spanish word for huge bowl, probably the geologists did not know this at the time of their research. Almost all valleys on the island are named caldera something.
Despite those drawbacks, the use of localities to name theories is still very common. It is much easier to remember if the names have a sense.

Contents

Examples

Rocks

Structures

Examples

Rocks

★ Harzburgite: Bad Harzburg, Germany

Structures

★ Caldera: Caldera de Taburiente, La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain