Start Date
9-9-2024 3:45 PM
End Date
9-9-2024 5:00 PM
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
Macrostrat is a geological data platform that integrates stratigraphic columns and geologic maps into a digital description of the crustal rock record. It comprises thousands of stratigraphic columns and 300+ geologic maps, correlated into an integrated, web-accessible dataset. Combined, map and column information create a spatial and temporal “scaffold” that can organize and contextualize information about the rock record. Macrostrat columns can represent stratigraphy at any scale, from regional summaries to single core logs, and can translate between physical and time-stratigraphic representations of the rock record. This capability is particularly powerful when combined with proxy data (e.g., geochemistry, fossils, and paleoenvironmental proxies). Macrostrat exposes a modern, openly accessible software interface (API) that facilitates a range of community uses, including the Rockd mobile app. In this talk, we discuss how digitally integrated stratigraphic columns can automate efforts to standardize proxy records to common representations of geologic time. We further examine how such efforts may lead towards integrative digital models of the crust, and how such models would contribute to geological research if realized.
Biography
Dr. Quinn is a research scientist and principal investigator of the Macrostrat data system, which indexes geologic maps, stratigraphic columns, and other geological data and links them into a descriptive model of the Earth’s crust. Quinn’s background in structural geology and tectonostratigraphy informs his focus on integrating digital data across subfields of geological research. His research relies on software development approaches to build scalable and interoperable ”cyberinfrastructure” to solve geological problems at scale. Quinn leads to numerous software projects, including the Rockd and Mapboard GIS apps and the Sparrow lab data system.
Additional Links
ORCID
Digital models of the crust to understand the Earth’s past and present
Macrostrat is a geological data platform that integrates stratigraphic columns and geologic maps into a digital description of the crustal rock record. It comprises thousands of stratigraphic columns and 300+ geologic maps, correlated into an integrated, web-accessible dataset. Combined, map and column information create a spatial and temporal “scaffold” that can organize and contextualize information about the rock record. Macrostrat columns can represent stratigraphy at any scale, from regional summaries to single core logs, and can translate between physical and time-stratigraphic representations of the rock record. This capability is particularly powerful when combined with proxy data (e.g., geochemistry, fossils, and paleoenvironmental proxies). Macrostrat exposes a modern, openly accessible software interface (API) that facilitates a range of community uses, including the Rockd mobile app. In this talk, we discuss how digitally integrated stratigraphic columns can automate efforts to standardize proxy records to common representations of geologic time. We further examine how such efforts may lead towards integrative digital models of the crust, and how such models would contribute to geological research if realized.