CHRONOS Network for Earth System History and the Geochemical Cycles-through-Time Node

Ethan L. Grossman1 (e-grossman@tamu.edu), John McArthur2, Samuel Bowring3, Cinzia Cervato*4, Vladimir Davydov5, Benjamin Flower6, Linda Hinnov7, Brian Huber*8, Christopher Keane*9, Anthony Koppers10, R. Mark Leckie11, Charles Marshall*12, James Ogg*13, Paul Sikora*14, Bruce Wardlaw*15

*CHRONOS steering committee1Department of Geology and Geophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843 USA2Department of Earth Science, UCL, London WC1E 6BT UK3Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA4Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011 USA5Permian Research Institute, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83728 USA6College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersberg, FL 33701 USA7Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 USA8Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC 20560 USA9American Geological Institute, Alexandria, VA 22302 USA10Scripps Inst. of Oceanography, Univ. of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92037 USA11Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 USA12Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA13Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sci., Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 USA14Energy & Geoscience Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84108 USA15U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA 20192 USA

The CHRONOS Concept. The goal of the CHRONOS project is to deliver a dynamic, interactive and time-calibrated framework for Earth System history as a network of comprehensive databases containing information related to biotic evolution and diversity, climate change, geochemical cycles, geodynamical processes, and other aspects of the Earth system. The CHRONOS system will consist of a ‘central hub’ coordinating a network of individual databases linked to the same temporal framework (Fig. 1). The databases will be interactive and referenced to a constantly updating timescale that forms the core control on the data presentation.

The CHRONOS IT System will be a platform-independent open database network system that utilizes open software and standards. It will be composed of open and well-described interfaces to hosted and federated databases based on the web services model. This is an extremely flexible and open system that will be designed to inter-operate with Grid-based solutions such as OGSA (Open Grid Service Architecture) and other systems employed by GEON. It can be described in terms of five layers consisting of (from bottom up): (1) Databases, (2) Translation/wrappers, (3) Interface/ Registry description, (4) Clients, and (5) Users and tools (Fig. 2).

Testing and Application. The CHRONOS Consortium will study four critical time-slices of Earth history to test the expanding capabilities of the information-technology infrastructure and toolkits of the assembled CHRONOS system. The four time-slice studies will address longstanding scientific questions of societal relevance and interest (Cambrian life explosion; Permian-Triassic catastrophic extinctions; middle Cretaceous super-greenhouse world; middle Miocene climate transitions). Each involves different types and qualities of data and will improve and refine marine and continental data correlations at the global scale. The ultimate goal is for all geoscientists to be able to apply the CHRONOS system of integrated databases for deciphering the complex interactions of the Earth system through all of geologic time.

Figure 2 –IT architecture of Central Hub coordination of federated database network and user interface.

Implementation. The proposed CHRONOS project will carry out the following tasks (Table 1) over the next 6 years (2003-2009):

Assemble a high-precision ‘Standard Geological Time Scale’ under the aegis of the International Commission on StratigraphyProgressively establish and interlink critical thematic database networks for fossil occurrences, radiometric ages, climate change, geochemical cycles, core-to-crust processes, and other components of Earth system historyEstablish central CHRONOS portals to access and analyze major component data types for researchers and the general publicDevelop advanced tools and visualization capabilities that investigators can apply to uploaded dataCoordinate an outreach program with educational modules and informative demonstrations of the CHRONOS system

Tasks, Institutions, and Participants are shown in Table 2.

Table 1. Timetable of selected milestones.

RADIOMETRICAGES task group

StandardGeological TimeScale task group

CLIMATE-through-Time taskgroup

GEOCHEMICALCYCLES-through-Time taskgroup

CORE-to-CRUSTDYNAMICS-through-Time taskgroup

Year 1(2003)

InternationalWorkshop

DevelopmentGSSP graphics

Year 2(2004)

Development Deployment (ICSstandards;estimated ages ofstage boundaries)

Conceptualdatabase design

Conceptualdatabase design

Conceptualdatabase design

Year 3(2005)

DevelopmentDeployment (keyPhanerozoic ages)

InternationalWorkshop (Standard TimeScale deployment)

InternationalWorkshopDevelopment

InternationalWorkshopDevelopment

InternationalWorkshopDeployment (platemotion parameters)

Year 4(2006)

Enhancement(Phanerozoicigneous intrusionages)

Enhancement(bio-zone andmagnetic ages;regional scales)

DevelopmentDeployment(Neogene climatecycles)

DevelopmentDeployment(carbon-oxygen-strontium isotopetrends)

Enhancement(magnetic strat)

Year 5(2007)

Enhancement(pre-Cambrianages)

InternationalWorkshop (enhancedconsensus timescale)

Enhancement(Mesozoic-Paleozoic climatecycles)

Enhancement(sediment facies)

Enhancement(paleo-geography)

Year 6(2008)

Enhancement(interactive timescale)

Enhancement(pre-Cambrian)

Enhancement(paleo-climate)

Enhancement(mass balances)

Enhancement(tectonic activity)

Outreach. Outreach will be coordinated by the American Geological Institute (AGI) to increase awareness of the CHRONOS initiative and to engage users to work in the developing system. Two primary constituent groups will be targeted – the geoscience community and the public. The geoscience community will be involved in the early phases of CHRONOS to build long-term community awareness and support; public outreach will focus on the education community of K-16, and the general public. A significant portion of AGI’s effort will be dedicated to active promotion of the CHRONOS vision through articles and promotional materials. As the CHRONOS system starts to come online, community outreach will need to focus more on specifics, such as info sheets, white papers, and tutorials on use and integration with CHRONOS, as well as identifying opportunities to spotlight successful ongoing research. Specific focus will be made to ensure awareness of CHRONOS within industry. This may include an instructional workshop on the use of the CHRONOS system to provide interfacing between industry and government researchers with the main CHRONOS participants.

Task Main Institutions Faculty and other personnelCentral Hub Iowa State University*, UCSD

Supercomputer Center*, Kansas GeologicalSurvey*

Cinzia Cervato, Chaitan Baru, Lee Allison,Doug Fils, Pat Diver; Additional system and toolprogrammers (4)

Outreach American Geological Institute*, Iowa StateUniversity*, with the assistance of“Tapestry of Times Past” (U.C. Berkeley)and DLESE

Chris Keane (AGI), Cinzia CervatoOutreach professionalGeoscience teacher (summer support)Faculty summer-salary support (rotating)

Executive Office(Wash., DC)

Hosted by U.S. Geological Survey* Bruce Wardlaw (up to 50% FTE)

LIFE-through-Time task group

University of Utah* (host), Iowa StateUniversity*, Smithsonian*, Univ. Mass.Amherst*, U.S. Geological Survey*With additional database contributions byHarvard Univ., U.C. Santa Barbara, U.C.Riverside, Louisiana State Univ., Univ.Oslo, Ocean Drilling Program, Kiel Univ.,Bremen Univ.

Paul Sikora, Tony Gary, Cinzia Cervato, BrianHuber, Mark Leckie, Bruce Wardlaw, andCharles Marshall.Additional assistance from John Alroy, TimBralower, Martin Farley, John Firth, RobertGoll, Felix Gradstein, Dave Lazarus, RakeshMithal, Pete Sadler, Emanuel Soeding,Volkhardt Spiess.Additional post-docs and graduate students

RADIOMETRICAGES task group

Scripps Inst. of Oceanography*, MIT* Anthony Koppers, Samuel BowringAdditional post-doc and graduate student

StandardGeological TimeScale task group

Purdue University*, InternationalCommission on Stratigraphy

James Ogg (Purdue Univ., secretary general ofICS), Felix Gradstein (Univ. Oslo, chair of ICS)

CLIMATE-through-Time taskgroup

Johns Hopkins University* and U. Florida* Linda Hinnov, Ben FlowerAdditional post-doc

GEOCHEMICALCYCLES-through-Time taskgroup

Texas A&M*, with Univ. College London Ethan Grossman, John McArthurAdditional post-doc and graduate student incooperation with GERM group (H. Staudigel, A.Koppers, Scripps)

CORE-to-CRUSTDYNAMICS-through-Time taskgroup

Purdue University*, with Scripps* (PMAGdatabase initiative) and U. Florida

James Ogg, Cathy Constable, Lisa Tauxe, NeilOpdyke, Anthony KoppersAdditional post-doc and graduate student

Permian-Triassictime-slicedemonstrationproject

Boise State Univ.*, USGS*, Nanjing Univ.(China)

Vladimir Davydov, Bruce Wardlaw, Jin YuganAdditional post-doc and graduate student

mid-Cretaceoustime-slice project

Univ. Mass. Amherst*, Univ. Utah* andJohns Hopkins University

Mark Leckie, Paul Sikora, Brian Huber, withassistance from Linda HinnovAdditional post-doc and graduate student

mid-Miocenetime-slice project

Univ. South Florida* and Johns HopkinsUniversity*

Ben Flower, Linda HinnovAdditional post-doc and graduate student

Cambrian time-slice project

Harvard*, MIT Charles Marshall, Samuel BowringAdditional post-doc and graduate student

Table 2. Tasks, Institutions, and Participants.

Figure 1 – Basic structure of the CHRONOS system, and its envisioned role with the NSF geoinformatics network. Orange rectangles indicate thematic coordination task groups. Yellow cylinders and sheets represent databases and data sets, respectively.

CENTRAL HUB

LIFE through

Time

RADIO-METRIC

AGE

Core-to-Crust Dynamics

through Time

Standard Geologic

Time Scale

Education & Outreach

Taxonomic Dictionaries

GEO-INFORM-

ATICS

GEOCHEM. CYCLES

through Time

Other relevant

databases

Cross-cutting databases

WEB-PORTAL

CLIMATE through Time

Key Components and Relevant Data

• Time (“absolute” ages derived from geochronology, and “relative” ages derived from correlations to global and regional geological stage boundaries)

• Life-through-Time (paleontological assemblages, evolution, biodiversity and extinction, productivity proxies, terrestrial and marine trends, etc.)

• Climate-through-Time (orbital forcing, glaciations, ice core records, temperature records from oxygen isotopes and other proxies, ecosystem changes, dust accumulation, etc.)

• Geochemical Cycles-through-Time (carbon and other elements that serve as biogeochemical cycle indicators, weathering balances from strontium isotopes and other data, sea-level changes, sediment accumulation rates, global facies patterns, etc.)

• Core-to-Crust Dynamics-through-Time (magnetic reversals and intensity variations, rates and directions of plate motions, hydrothermal fluxes of elements, volcanic ash frequency, etc.)

Thematic Task Groups, Goals, and Tasks

LIFE-through-Time

Compile data from paleontological assemblages, evolution, biodiversity and extinction, productivity proxies, terrestrial and marine trends, etc.

Determine best means to link these databases into a single integrated thematic LIFE-through-Time sub-network with data search and acquisition capabilities

Join the EGI-Amoco database, the Neptune database (predominantly marine microfossils), and the Paleobiology Database (predominately macrofossils)

Link additional databases (Paleodata, JANUS-ODP, NORGES, Palynodat, ODSN) and an extensive reference set of taxonomic dictionaries and images

RADIOMETRIC AGES

Compile dates that directly calibrate or constrain the geological time scale Design an interactive database that will automatically update the relevant portion of

dependent geological time scale after entry of “new” or “updated” ages Develop radiometric database (ERRAD) under the EarthRef (http://earthref.org) umbrella,

relying heavily on data in the EarthRef infrastructure

Standard Geological Time Scale

Provide authoritative definitions and global correlation of geological intervals (stages, periods, etc.) as fixed by a Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP), ratified by the ICS and International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS)

Extrapolate absolute ages for each stage boundary and compile data and methods incorporated into these assignments

Provide common or standardized zonations for fossil groups and magnetic reversals and the associated estimates of their ages, with an interactive database linked directly to other relevant nodes

Create online databases and display graphics, provide outreach information on the geological time scale, and host international workshops to utilize the CHRONOS system and its analytical tools to improve the ages of the Standard Geological Time Scale

CLIMATE-through-Time

Focus on climate proxy data interpreted as having recorded Milankovitch climate cycles Target climate proxies including marine stable isotopes, microfossil assemblages, %

carbonate, biogenic silica, clay mineralogy, trace elements, facies successions, and even wireline logs

Design cyber-structure to accommodate linkages to the rapidly increasing inventory of sub-Milankovitch (decadal-millennial) scale datasets

Install linkage to databases for the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs (e.g., NOAA’s World Data Center for Paleoclimatology, ODP, Delphi Project, Pangaea); solicitation and amalgamation of isolated databases for older sediments

GEOCHEMICAL CYCLES-through-Time

Compile geochemical proxies linked to chronostratigraphy for interpreting global change and paleoclimate including proven proxies (C, O, S, and Sr isotopes and emerging proxies like B, Ca, Os, Si, and Fe isotopes)

Spearhead the repository of time-series data for element/calcium ratios in marine carbonates

Design system to permit integration of different proxy records for holistic interpretations, and enable evaluation of data schemes within a variety of stratigraphic and temporal schemes

Catalogue data with a comprehensive set of metadata, permitting detailed evaluation of sample quality both in the fidelity of the data and in its spatial and temporal placement

Include metadata categories like those discussed in Staudigel et al. (2002, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems); include additional information on sample quality such as overall specimen preservation, screening methods and ancillary data (e.g., trace-element data, petrographic and cathodoluminescent character), maximum burial depth, conodont alteration index, and sample size

Coordinate data compilation with GERM (Geochemical Earth Reference Model; GERM Steering Committee 2001) group of EarthRef (http://earthref.org/GERM/) , enhancing the temporal component of that program. The two programs will share data and use standardized protocols so as to complement and not duplicate efforts

A workshop will be organized (perhaps as early as August, 2004) to discuss how to best organize the database and data display to fulfill the needs of the geochemistry community. In the meantime, the CHRONOS group and its Geochemical Cycles-through-Time group are soliciting comments on what data and metadata to include in CHRONOS, and how to best integrate CHRONOS and GERM.

Use

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To

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Cli

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Inte

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Reg

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y D

escr

ipti

on

Tra

nsl

atio

n

Wra

pp

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Dat

abas

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User / Tools

Direct connect to local databases via

connection pool

Connection to federated databases via:1) SQL connection2) SOAP interface layer3) Interface mapping

Hosted Databases

Federated Databases at remotely administrated sites

Archival copies of Federated Databases

Alternate Interface1) CORBA2) RMI3) etc.

Rich client interfaceCustom client

interface talking to the SOAP layer

Web interface layer (XML-based to allow data

return in XML, HTML, PDF, or legacy formats)

Registry and DescriptionServices

SOAP Interface

SOAP Interface

Associated middle ware

Ontology mapping layer

Wrapper layer to map schemes and ontology

SQL Engine to hosted databases