PALEOSTRAT – AN “EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT APPROACH”

PaleoStrat (www.paleostrat.org) was conceived in 1997 and has become part of the CHRONOS federation of databases. PaleoStrat started as a prototype and is based on the idea of developing an initial implementation to solicit user comment and then to refine the concept through a series of version until an adequate system has been developed. Rather than having separate specification, development, and validation phases, we concurrently carried out these activities, utilizing rapid user feedback. Thus, PaleoStrat has evolved through a prototype stage to initial implementation The prototype effort was also dictated by the inherent complexity of the data we are trying to accommodate.

The overall system design for the Paleostrat system consists of three key components: 1) a database, 2) a Web interface for data input and access, and 3) visualization and mapping tools. We have taken an "Evolutionary Development Approach" in designing the Paleostrat system and several processes have been put in place that allows us to streamline the data entry, and develop component based visualization and mapping tools. Through this programmatic approach we used such technologies as: persistent stored modules/stored procedures, Microsoft Active Server (an open standard based software architecture) in conjunction with scripting using Active Server Pages (ASPs), Active Data Objects, and developing within the .NET framework. We have implemented very efficient means for the data entry. Furthermore by utilizing software such as Adobe's® Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) and ESRI® ArcIMS® we have developed an interactive, database-driven tool for constructing stratigraphic sections (or well/drill hole descriptions). The overall goal is to make all of these data interactively available on the Web, with mirrored sites at CHRONOS, the USGS, and elsewhere to ensure perpetual availability of the data. PaleoStrat has been supported by National Science Foundation grants EAR 0106796, EAR-ITR 0218799 and EAR 0312392.