The CHRONOS System: Geoinformatics for Deep-time Earth Processes

层状沉积岩是一个巨大的、全球分布的地球过程历史信息库，跨越数十亿年，包含着许多科学和社会问题的答案。传统上，我们试图在印刷文献中捕捉这些信息，但由于媒介的性质，这些数据集是不完整的。此外，后续研究人员从文献中提取这些信息是一个昂贵且耗时的过程。这个“信息瓶颈”的答案是地理信息学，这是一场将信息迁移到更容易检索的电子格式的革命。CHRONOS系统是一个社区设施，旨在满足沉积地质学和古生物学的地理信息学需求，强调全球相关性和时间序列分析，并直接支持包括生命进化和多样性、气候变化、地球化学循环、古海洋学、造山系统地壳动力学和地球系统许多其他方面在内的前沿研究。CHRONOS系统的目的是提供一个开放的、基于社区的地理信息平台，用于存储、访问和分析沉积地质、地球化学和古生物学数据。通过增强和连接社区数据库，并赋予它们前所未有的互操作性，CHRONOS系统将实现虚拟的、在线的、电子的地层记录——这是加快综合地球科学的步伐和扩大其范围的一种手段。通过关注地球过程的时间记录，CHRONOS也为K-16学生和班级以及公众提供了一个独特的信息来源。它与DLESE、古门户、地方和国家组织、地球科学教师团体、国家博物馆和探索馆合作，提供有效的教育材料，并尽可能广泛地接触到观众。

EAR-0524285CervatoLayered sedimentary rocks are a vast, globally distributed, information repository for the history of Earth processes, spanning billions of years, holding the answers to many scientific and societal questions. Traditionally, we have tried to capture this information in the printed literature where the data sets, by the nature of the medium, are incomplete. Furthermore, it is an expensive and time-consuming process for subsequent researchers to extract this information from the literature. The answer to this "information bottleneck" is geoinformatics, a revolution that is migrating information to more readily retrievable electronic formats. The CHRONOS System is a community facility that addresses the geoinformatics needs of sedimentary geology and paleobiology, emphasizes global correlation and time-series analysis, and directly supports cutting-edge research on topics that include the evolution and diversity of life, climate change, geochemical cycles, paleoceanography, crustal dynamics of orogenic systems, and many other aspects of the Earth system. The purpose of the CHRONOS System is to provide an open, community-based geoinformatics platform for storing, accessing, and analyzing sedimentary geological, geochemical, and paleobiological data. By augmenting and connecting community databases and giving them an unprecedented level of interoperability, the CHRONOS System will realize a virtual, on-line, electronic stratigraphic record - a means to boost the pace and enlarge the scope of integrative geoscience. By focusing on the record of Earth processes through time, CHRONOS is also providing a unique source of information for K-16 students and classes, and the public. It partners with DLESE, PaleoPortal, local and national organizations and Earth science teachers groups, and national museums and exploratoria to both provide effective educational material, and to reach as broad an audience as possible.