Antarctic Geologic Database: Rock Data and Sample Rescue

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

9626819 Askin Abstract This award supports the design, development, testing and implementation of a computer database for Antarctic geological collections, and to rescue Antarctic geologic data and samples. There is an increasing sense of urgency within the US Antarctic geologic community over the safe curation and accessibility of rock and fossil collections and data acquired during research in Antarctica. There is concern over the loss of samples obtained at great expense, including samples which are likely to be valuable for new lines of investigation. There is also concern over minimizing negative environmental impacts of earth science research in Antarctica, and over the availability of funding for proper curation of samples in the future. At present the lack of a centralized curation facility for Antarctic samples greatly inhibits potential use of existing samples for new projects. Unpublished information about samples exists with individual investigators but there has been no attempt to organize this for the betterment of the science. Development of a database is the logical first step that must be taken toward more responsible management of Antarctic rock and fossil materials. The Antarctic Geologic Database will be a user-friendly system accessible to the geologic community on Macintosh and IBM-based personal computers via the World-Wide-Web. It will allow easy search, retrieval and loading of geologic information collected by US geologists in Antarctica. The design will be based on the on-line archiving and cataloging system for the Synthetic Aperture Radar images and data in the Remote Sensing Laboratory at Byrd Polar Research Center, but will be specifically designed to handle Antarctic and geologic requirements and information. It will incorporate the best ideas of museum collections management systems and rock repository databases currently used in the Orton Geological Museum at the Ohio State University and elsewhere in the USA and ove rseas.