GEOSPATIAL TEPHRA DISTRIBUTION DATABASE OF LARGE VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS IN ALASKA

Tephra deposits are key stratigraphic markers linking marine, lacustrine, and terrestrial records to aid research in volcanology, paleoclimate studies, and archaeology. Large tephra-producing eruptions from volcanoes in Alaska have produced a large dataset of time-stratigraphic markers. Currently, this dataset is dispersed among hundreds of publications across a variety of research disciplines, making the tephra data in these publications difficult to access. As part of the Alaska Volcano Observatory’s Alaska Tephra Database Project, a geospatial database is being built to combine all geospatial information on large-scale tephra-producing eruptions from volcanoes in Alaska. The geospatial tephra distribution database will build upon and link to the Alaska Tephra Database, and will include fields such as location of tephra stratigraphic section, thickness of deposit, isopach contours, inferred dispersion area and direction vectors, source vent, and bibliographic reference, among others. Researchers in a variety of disciplines will be able to access this data, allowing scientists to predict which tephras might be encountered at a study site based on geographic location, and to aid in age modeling of stratigraphic sections when tephra eruption age is known. Geospatial data will be combined using ArcGIS and will be distributed through the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) Interactive Map interface, as well as standard publication through DGGS GIS digital data distribution pathways, which are free to the public.