Michael Diepenbroek

Granulometric study of the Hanaupah Fan, Death Valley, California

We applied new granulometric techniques to the various surfaces of the Hanaupah Fan, Death Valley, California, namely the Q1 surface, with an estimated age of 800–490 ka, the younger Q2 (170–105 ka) and Q3 (50–14 ka) surfaces, the <14 ka deposits of the incised channel, and to a (c. 14 ka) Lake Manly shoreline deposit at the northern periphery of the fan. We used these techniques to generate quantitative information on surface clast grain-size distributions, clast sphericity, roundness, and clast orientation to provide a data set that could be used to define fan-segment surfaces, and to help interpret fan genesis. Grain-size analyses were carried out by photo-sieving of 139 surface pictures, by petrographic identification of samples taken in the incised channel, and by identification and measuring of the largest clasts (1452 measurements) on the Q3 surface. The results show that all fan-segment surfaces, regardless of age, have similar size distributions, with a well-defined gravel mode of −2·3 to −3·0 phi, and are poorly to moderately sorted. Samples from the incised channel have distributions that are very similar to each other, regardless of distance from the apex, but display reduced sorting compared to the fan surfaces (which largely lack fines, perhaps from winnowing by secondary overland flow). Only the shoreline deposit is different from the other elements, showing a much narrower, well-defined gravel mode (−3·0 phi), and is moderately well sorted. Sphericity and roundness of clasts on all surfaces show only minor differences, similar to the other sedimentary parameters, indicating a remarkable homogeneity of the surfaces of the sediment body. In addition, measurements of the largest clasts (>100 cm long axis) on the Q3 surface showed no discernible trend either with radial distance or with rock type. These data suggest large depositional episodes that produce extensive sedimentary units without differentiation relative to distance from the source. Of the examined parameters, clast orientation is the best predictor of relative age of fan surfaces. Clast orientation in the main channel is bimodal, i.e. the long axes of clasts are either at right angles or parallel to transport direction. This bimodality disappears with increasing age, and the preferred orientation becomes unimodal (long clast axes normal to transport direction) on the Q1 surface. Although the causes of this change are still in debate, use of this parameter as a relative-age dating tool seems possible.

Generic XML-based framework for metadata portals

We present a generic and flexible framework for building geoscientific metadata portals independent of content standards for metadata and protocols. Data can be harvested with commonly used protocols (e.g., Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting) and metadata standards like DIF or ISO 19115. The new Java-based portal software supports any XML encoding and makes metadata searchable through Apache Lucene. Software administrators are free to define searchable fields independent of their type using XPath. In addition, by extending the full-text search engine (FTS) Apache Lucene, we have significantly improved queries for numerical and date/time ranges by supplying a new trie-based algorithm, thus, enabling high-performance space/time retrievals in FTS-based geo portals. The harvested metadata are stored in separate indexes, which makes it possible to combine these into different portals. The portal-specific Java API and web service interface is highly flexible and supports custom front-ends for users, provides automatic query completion (AJAX), and dynamic visualization with conventional mapping tools. The software has been made freely available through the open source concept.

Scientific data must be made available to all

An internationally binding regulation should be the first step towards securing vital data.

DOI for geoscience data - how early practices shape present perceptions

The first minting of Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) for research data happened in 2004 in the context of the project “Publication and citation of primary scientific data” (STD-DOI). Some of the concepts and perceptions about DOI for data today have their roots in the way this project implemented DOI for research data and the decisions made in those early days still shape the discussion about the use of persistent identifiers for research data today. This project also laid the foundation for a tighter integration of journal publications and data. Promoted by early adopters, such as PANGAEA, DOI registration for data has reached a high level of maturity and has become an integral part of scientific publishing. This paper discusses the fundamental concepts applied in the identification of DOI for research data and how these can be interpreted for alternative and future applications of persistent identifiers for research data.

Archiving and distributing earth-science data with the PANGAEA information system

PANGAEA Publishing Network for Geoscientific and Environmental Data (http://www.pangaea.de) is an information system aimed at archiving, publishing, and distributing data related to climate variability, the marine environment, and the solid earth. The system is a public “data library” distributing any kind of data to the scientific community through the Internet. Data are stored in a relational database in a consistent format with related meta-information following international standards. Data are georeferenced in space and/or time, individually configured subsets may be extracted. Any type of information, data and documents may be served (profiles, maps, photos, graphics, text and numbers). Operation by Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and Center for Marine Environmental Sciences (MARUM) is assured in the long-term. Both institutions provide the technical infrastructure, system management and support for data management of projects as well as for individual scientists. Most important collections from Antarctic research archived in PANGAEA so far are the data of the Cape Roberts Project, geological maps and age determinations of rock outcrops, a complete set of JGOFS, WOCE, DSDP and ODP data including those from the Southern Ocean, any marine sediment cores, documentation and analytical data from German expeditions and an increasing inventory of data published by the running EPICA project.

On Bridging Data Centers and Publishers: The Data-Literature Interlinking Service

Although research data publishing is today widely regarded as crucial for reproducibility and proper assessment of scientific results, several challenges still need to be solved to fully realize its potential. Developing links between the published literature and datasets is one of them. Current solutions are mostly based on bilateral, ad-hoc agreements between publishers and data centers, operating in silos whose content cannot be readily combined to deliver a network connecting research data and literature. The RDA Publishing Data Services Working Group (PDS-WG) aims to address this issue by bringing together different stakeholders to agree on common standards, combine links from disparate sources, and create a universal, open service for collecting and sharing such links: the Data-Literature Interlinking Service. This paper presents the synergic effort of the PDS-WG and the OpenAIRE infrastructure to realize and operate such a service. The Service populates and provides access to a graph of dataset-literature links collected from a variety of major data centers, publishers, and research organizations. At the time of writing, the Service has close to one million links with further contributions expected. Based on feedback from content providers and consumers, PDS-WG will continue to refine the Service data model and exchange format to make it a universal, cross-platform, cross-discipline solution for collecting and sharing dataset-literature links.

The German Contribution to ESONET - Integrating Activities for Setting up an Interoperable Ocean Observation System in Europe

The project ESONET which is coordinated by IFREMER, France, is a European initiative towards establishing new -and making use of existing- ocean observatories around Europe for observing natural processes that are either very episodic or statistically require long time series. The most important processes are: (1) the episodic release of methane from the seabed affecting climate change, (2) the relationship between earthquakes, tsunami generation and submarine slope failures, and (3) the short term biogeochemical processes affecting the marine ecosystem. One of the major tasks is to integrate the existing infrastructures with new components to establish a coherent, long-term, manageable seafloor observation system within the larger scope of Earth observation systems. To reach this goal activities on different levels and in different fields have to be started to achieve a smooth interplay on the management and the implementation levels. Foremost is the integration of regional observatory initiatives, the integration of existing data and infrastructures in Europe, the sharing of facilities and the link with other international observatory programmes. Interoperability has to be achieved by building up on proven standardisation procedures. Any standardisation initiative has to start on the sensor level leading through the middleware up to an interoperable data access system. Existing realisation concepts will be evaluated and possibly adopted in its original form or modified Besides the data collection chain, the service and maintenance procedures for installing instruments and platforms on the sites of interest have to be standardised as well. This is related to the operation deployment tools like ROVs and dedicated Lander systems or the preparation of special installations making use of special drilling devices. Overall, this leads to the formation of a sustainable operation system for the anticipated observatory infrastructure. In particular in the US and Canada intense discussions on this topic have been started and are continuing. Setting up firm links between all these initiatives and deriving a cooperative approach only makes ocean observatories a truly relevant building block for a global earth observation system. It is of utmost importance that ESONET is able to contribute to these discussions properly as Europe has a strong interest in this field not just scientifically but also for instance as part of a general strategy for establishing early warning systems. All these activities will be undertaken in close cooperation with other ongoing projects in particular with the GEO initiative where GMES forms the European component of GEO. As part of the 10 years implementation plan GEO will as a first step come up with concepts for integrating existing data sources into an interoperable system. For the ESONET initiative five German institutions have formed a partnership under the umbrella of KDM. This enables a better coordination regarding the integration of scientific needs as well as technically feasible solutions. KDM is an organisation meant to coordinate marine research activities in Germany, particularly in regard to European efforts, to avoid parallel activities, and to ensure a more efficient course of action vis-a-vie funding agencies and science policy makers. This approach is indispensable for the ESONET initiative to be successful. The German members of the ESONET team under KDM umbrella with their main area of expertise are: University of Bremen -Ocean margin research, employing dedicated deep sea instrumentation Max-Planck-Institute for Marine Microbiology - Biogeochemical processes making use of newly developed sensor systems. International University of Bremen -Seafloor investigations employing recording instrumentation. Alfred-Wegener-Institute -Polar research disposing over the essential technical infrastructure. IFM-GEOMAR -Seafloor and water column processes.

Webservices infrastructure for the registration of scientific primary data

Registration of scientific primary data, to make these data citable as a unique piece of work and not only a part of a publication, has always been an important issue. In the context of the project ”Publication and Citation of Scientific Primary Data” funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) the German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB) has become the first registration agency worldwide for scientific primary data. Registration has started for the field of earth science, but will be widened for other subjects in the future. This paper shall give an overview about the technical realization of this important usage field for a digital library.

Data Management of Proxy Parameters with PANGAEA

Specific parameters detennined from marine sediments can be used as proxy data to calculate fonner ocean properties. To use this scientific resource effectively an infonnation system is needed which guarantees consistent longtime storage of the proxy data and provides easy access for the scientific community. An infonnation system to archive proxy data ofpaleociimatic relevance, together with the related meta-infonnation, raw data and evaluated paleoclimatic data, is presented here. The system provides standardized import and export routines, easy access with unifonn retrieval functions, and tools for the visualization of data. The network is designed as a client/server system providing access through the Internet.

The data-literature interlinking service: Towards a common infrastructure for sharing data-article links

Research data publishing is today widely regarded as crucial for reproducibility, proper assessment of scientific results, and as a way for researchers to get proper credit for sharing their data. However, several challenges need to be solved to fully realize its potential, one of them being the development of a global standard for links between research data and literature. Current linking solutions are mostly based on bilateral, ad hoc agreements between publishers and data centers. These operate in silos so that content cannot be readily combined to deliver a network graph connecting research data and literature in a comprehensive and reliable way. The Research Data Alliance (RDA) Publishing Data Services Working Group (PDS-WG) aims to address this issue of fragmentation by bringing together different stakeholders to agree on a common infrastructure for sharing links between datasets and literature. The paper aims to discuss these issues.,This paper presents the synergic effort of the RDA PDS-WG and the OpenAIRE infrastructure toward enabling a common infrastructure for exchanging data-literature links by realizing and operating the Data-Literature Interlinking (DLI) Service. The DLI Service populates and provides access to a graph of data set-literature links (at the time of writing close to five million, and growing) collected from a variety of major data centers, publishers, and research organizations.,To achieve its objectives, the Service proposes an interoperable exchange data model and format, based on which it collects and publishes links, thereby offering the opportunity to validate such common approach on real-case scenarios, with real providers and consumers. Feedback of these actors will drive continuous refinement of the both data model and exchange format, supporting the further development of the Service to become an essential part of a universal, open, cross-platform, cross-discipline solution for collecting, and sharing data set-literature links.,This realization of the DLI Service is the first technical, cross-community, and collaborative effort in the direction of establishing a common infrastructure for facilitating the exchange of data set-literature links. As a result of its operation and underlying community effort, a new activity, name Scholix, has been initiated involving the technological level stakeholders such as DataCite and CrossRef.