EVALUATION OF STRATIGRAPHIC DATA-MANAGEMENT AND DISPLAYS USING GIS AND HTML: EXAMPLE FROM THE PERMIAN WESTERN INTERIOR, USA

Permian stratigraphic data for the Western Interior USA, including isopachs and paleocurrents, were digitized, compiled, and organized into a GIS database. The data were gathered from numerous stratigraphic sources including analog maps and cross sections. GIS, a developing geoscientific tool, is explored and implemented to merge, systematize, present, and perform tedious calculations of large stratigraphic datasets. Consolidating the information into a georeferenced, visual format allows for the identification of regional trends in complex stratigraphic sequences. The database permits easy updating and correction of information by an individual user.

The Permian was divided into four sequences based on previous work: 1) Cedar Mesa-Esplanade, 2) Schnebly Hill-DeChelly-Coconino, 3) Toroweap, and 4) Kaibab. These rocks comprise a diverse suite of shallow marine, eolian, sabkha, fluvial, and coastal plain deposits that formed in several basins adjacent to and distal from the greater Ancestral Rocky Mountains. The presentation format readily allows the rocks of these sequences to be visually presented as a series of rectified graphics that can be analyzed independently or compared and contrasted with each other. Visuals include Permian isopach, paleotectonic, paleoenvironment, and paleogeographic maps that contain hyperlinks to stratigraphic columns and outcrop photographs. Metadata files accompany each shapefile and specify the data source, original data format, map datum, data manipulations, date of construction, and designer.

The completed project will create a single database that combines, organizes, and displays the collections of Permian data for the Western Interior. The project is mirrored in a website so as not to be software dependent. The website, http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~rcb7, contains a downloadable copy of the GIS database and web pages with the final products. This presentation method is significant because it orchestrates varying, complex, and independent information from a variety of sources, formats, and presentation styles that can be readily manipulated by the individual user.